Wow! I just spent over an hour talking to my sister. She's insane and I love her for it. She reminds me of my wife(but that's another blog I haven't got clearance to write yet). My sister Peggy is a very important part of my life. I must say, this is a woman I wish everyone could meet. She is a trip. I love talking with her because the two of us have been through so much together. We have a bond that is unlike any other person I know. Trust me, it ain't always the greatest! But think about it, who bonds with people they always get along with in an in depth way?
Let me give you some background. Peggy is 2 years older than me. My other two sisters are 7 and 8 years older than me. When the older ones were off to college(at the same school no less) it was just me and Peggy. This was good and bad. All we had was each other. Peggy was young for her grade and I was old for my grade. Therefore, we had 3 grades separating us....yep you guessed it....Senior and Freshman in high school!
She would never talk to me in high school. But all her friends would! It made my transition to high school a little easier(high school sucks as a freshman, we all lived it). She took me to my first concert....The Doobie Brothers...I'll never forget it! Her girlfriends always liked me. And her boyfriends knew(as did all my sister's boyfriends from high school through life) getting me on their good side worked well on their behalf's).
As we grew older we got a little distant. I don't think this is unlike any siblings who have spent so much time together as children. We were pretty tight as kids....shit, she read the entire Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book to me when we were kids(by the way she had already read it)!
She went to college...I went to college....blah, blah, blah. I started becoming increasing liberal. She starting becoming increasing conservative. Boy this helped the relationship.
Who knows what influences the choices you make in your life. I can tell you, if you go to a conservative college odds are you will eventually become conservative and if you go to a liberal college odds are you will eventually become liberal. Low and behold, that's what happened! I know you're shocked.
When my folks got divorced after 33 years of marriage I was pretty distraught. Don't get me wrong, divorce hits us all in different ways and I spoke with my Mom and Dad regularly about my feelings, but I knew who I needed to talk to.....Peggy.
I still remember talking with her that first time after the divorce and she consoled me like no one else could. I think deep down she felt the same way. Our relationship with our parents was a different one than our older sisters. Think about the 70's and 80's. These were intense times. Women became more independent. Things started becoming more equal. It truly was a good time for us all. I believe my parents are better people today than if they forced themselves to stay together. That was the way of the 60's and 70's. Not in the late 80's.
The point is, Peggy was the only one who could get me where I needed to be during that time. Today, she is the same.
I can do no justice on this blog in describing her. To meet her is to know her. If I told you she was opinionated, the point wouldn't get across....not deep enough. If I told you she is never wrong(she is a Scorpio like my dad) it wouldn't be acute enough(she never used to be wrong, but she's better now...a little...just don't go in the kitchen when she's cooking).
The best way I can describe her is that she is my yin to my yang. She is my pro to my con. She has always tested me and makes me think deeply.
I would be remiss if I didn't tell you she is an incredibly talented and smart human being. She is a great mother and wife. She has two beautiful children and I'm extremely proud of her(but I probably have never told her that).
Now that I've kissed her ass significantly, let's get to the nitty-gritty. She called tonite to tell me how much she loves this blog(mind you she is not a telephone person so I was a little taken aback it was her on the phone and not her husband, who is...we talk all the time....more than I do with Peggy).
Peggy is my political governor. She keeps me on track. Readers of this blog know I tend to slide to the left. This woman is the person I think about when I write politically. Often times when I want to slide all the way to the left I will think of Peggy and realize we have two sides of government. Our forefathers wanted it this way. We all lose site of this so often. If it weren't for a different side, we would never check up on our politicians. She always reminds me of how important this is(of course in the last 8 years.....not so much...but I still get it).
We had such a great conversation tonite. We disagree often, but we don't fight. We're beyond that. We listen. How could you not listen to people you love? She is a person who is going through similar struggles as me?
Whenever you are reading and think I'm being too centered, it's because of Peggy. I'm proud of it.
I'm so glad she is reading because she has always been a part of my blog from day 1.
By the way....at one point in our conversation tonite she called me her husband's name. It was extremely great for me since I love her husband. So much so, he is the godfather of my daughter.
It's nice to know my sister married a guy who is a little like me sometimes!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Fantasy Baseball Together
People don't realize why we play fantasy baseball. People look at it in an uninformed point of view. Largely fantasy sports leagues are viewed as weird and a waste of time. As a player of fantasy sports for about 20 years I really can't argue with these viewpoints. But I must tell you each year I spend a day at my fantasy baseball draft with some of my closest friends and this is where the attraction lies.
Two of my best friends, Bryan and Tim come to my house each year on the day of our fantasy baseball draft two hours before we need to arrive at the drafting site....which is the basement of the commissioner of our league's house.....stop thinking about how gay it is that 15-20 men gather in the basement of a man's house to do nothing but talk about baseball....it's more than that.
As I got in Tim's car after spending a couple hours with my good friends, I said to them, "You know the best part of this baseball draft is the two hours we get to spend together before we get in the car." I meant it and I know they knew I did.
You see, I talk with Bryan and Tim all the time. Rarely do we get to get together as a threesome and laugh and smile like we do when we are together. Hey, it's tough to get together when you have hockey games and Indian princesses(whatever the hell that is) or trips to grandma's or whatever it is that is taking all of our time as parents. Shit, when we became friends almost 20 years ago, we didn't think we would be chasing our kids around.
So you see, this stupid fantasy baseball league gives us all an excuse to spend time together.
Together is the key. The three of us rarely get together. It is uplifting, emotional and exhilarating to be with these two friends of mine in the same room at the same time. I care about them equally. I speak and spend time with them as much as possible. But it rarely happens that the three of us get to be together at the same time.
Everyone has go-to friends. These are the friends you call when you're in a tough spot and don't know which way to go. These are the friends you call when life is kicking the shit out of you and you need some honest advice. These are the friends you call when you need to be slapped in the face and you know they'll do it because they care about you so much that hurting your feelings isn't as important as getting you through the tough times. This is Bryan and Tim.
I am proud to have friends like these two. I know I am a better person today because of them. These two people have helped me through some of the darkest and toughest times of my life. I will always be indebted to them for the guidance and thoughtfulness they have given me throughout these years of our friendship.
The next time you hear about a fantasy baseball league, don't think about the stupidity(it is pretty stupid and all who play it know this), think about the fact that it gives men....who otherwise would have a problem stating it....a chance to be together.
It's the best part of my league.
Two of my best friends, Bryan and Tim come to my house each year on the day of our fantasy baseball draft two hours before we need to arrive at the drafting site....which is the basement of the commissioner of our league's house.....stop thinking about how gay it is that 15-20 men gather in the basement of a man's house to do nothing but talk about baseball....it's more than that.
As I got in Tim's car after spending a couple hours with my good friends, I said to them, "You know the best part of this baseball draft is the two hours we get to spend together before we get in the car." I meant it and I know they knew I did.
You see, I talk with Bryan and Tim all the time. Rarely do we get to get together as a threesome and laugh and smile like we do when we are together. Hey, it's tough to get together when you have hockey games and Indian princesses(whatever the hell that is) or trips to grandma's or whatever it is that is taking all of our time as parents. Shit, when we became friends almost 20 years ago, we didn't think we would be chasing our kids around.
So you see, this stupid fantasy baseball league gives us all an excuse to spend time together.
Together is the key. The three of us rarely get together. It is uplifting, emotional and exhilarating to be with these two friends of mine in the same room at the same time. I care about them equally. I speak and spend time with them as much as possible. But it rarely happens that the three of us get to be together at the same time.
Everyone has go-to friends. These are the friends you call when you're in a tough spot and don't know which way to go. These are the friends you call when life is kicking the shit out of you and you need some honest advice. These are the friends you call when you need to be slapped in the face and you know they'll do it because they care about you so much that hurting your feelings isn't as important as getting you through the tough times. This is Bryan and Tim.
I am proud to have friends like these two. I know I am a better person today because of them. These two people have helped me through some of the darkest and toughest times of my life. I will always be indebted to them for the guidance and thoughtfulness they have given me throughout these years of our friendship.
The next time you hear about a fantasy baseball league, don't think about the stupidity(it is pretty stupid and all who play it know this), think about the fact that it gives men....who otherwise would have a problem stating it....a chance to be together.
It's the best part of my league.
Friday, March 27, 2009
What Would You Say?
I'm a little blogged out tonite so I'm going to let my friends input their feelings...this should be fun....
First up is my sister in law Kathy.....Getting scared about the 40's world..... "I am quickly approaching the age of 40. I spent time with my fiance' talking about my childhood. I quickly realized that my childhood molded me to the "being" I am today. He responded in a very proud manner. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate myself, love myself and love my family and friends with unconditional thankfulness. I love them for giving me this. My childhood wasn't exactly the easiest of growing environments. Being the youngest of five siblings can be a bitch! Having their influence not only made me who I am today, but made me love and understand the way it made me. Life is what it is. I have two beautiful boys and I couldn't be more proud of them. I don't think they would be the young men that they are today if it weren't for the influence and the intense love of my family."
Next up is my lovely wife.....here we go... this should be interesting....."I believe that nobody should be in my personal life that isn't in my personal life. Although most people who read this I know personally, I don't believe that everyone I know should be privy to all aspects of my life. That is my blog."
I've been married to this woman for 16 years!
Time now for my new brother in law...who isn't my brother in law until October...but he is the guy who is marrying the woman above.....
This is Shaun...."I respect my future brother in law and I respect his blog...however...I do have a few criticisms; and I shall elaborate......, this is a different path than the original plan, however, I have had too many Blackhaus shots, I reserve the rite to change the course of this column at any time.
I was actually excited to have an opportunity to express my opinions on his blog....however...I was informed I was to dictate these feelings through him. This makes it much more difficult, but, I will do my best to convey my true feelings.
I was thrilled to have met the love of my life last June. It was truly love at first sight. How in the world could I follow the words from above of my future wife? Truly inspirational! I must tell you, every ounce of my being from our wedding day on, will be toward our happiness. I am pressured to write this last minute, and this is the best I can come up with, however, it is all true. Good luck Tom on this blog. and wish me the best in my adventure with the love of my life."
Boy, that was fun. I'm not sure what the hell we found out about all that but at least I didn't have to spew my thoughts for this evening. I was actuall going to destroy the NCAA tournament tonite, but I think this was wayyyyy better.
Although, I'm extremely confused!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Amusing Musings...
I think it's time to have some musing....
I gotta tell you Ellen Ripley is one bad-ass woman. Every time I see the sequel to Alien, Aliens I can't turn the channel. I have seen this movie dozens of times. I can remember being at Big Bill's house almost every nite watching this movie back in the late 80's. You see Bill had a VCR and back in those days not many did. Plus he had a couple of cool movies. One of which was Aliens and by gosh we watched it every nite. Even if I had to be home at a certain time, I would inevitably stay and watch the entire thing. "Get away from her you BITCH!" C'mon she was bad as hell. Great stuff. The ending was an amazing hour of terror but the beginning had great comic relief from Bill Paxton(Big Love, Tombstone)...."I say we grease the rat fink S.O.B. right now!"....or....."6 weeks and out man, and I'm gonna buy it on this rock!" Really great stuff. Just a great movie. If you haven't seen it, try to rent it or catch it on cable. If not I'll call Big Bill and see if you can borrow his copy(I'm sure he still has it and still watches it from time to time).
....I seem to write about my son a lot. Hey a father and son have a bond. I don't write a lot about my daughter(his twin sister) mainly because if you're a father of a daughter you know there is nothing they do wrong or that is funny or basically anything that is anything. The only thing I can say about her is that she is the 4 year old version of my wife(I still haven't decided if this is a good thing for our marriage.....you know I never spell marriage wrong because I lost out on a spelling bee in 8th grade on that word....isn't it nuts the stupid stuff you remember?....I guess those spelling bees weren't completely useless)...where in the heck was I? Oh yeah, my daughter. She's the most beautiful being I have ever laid eyes on. She waits in bed for me to come wake her up. She could be up for hours but won't get out of bed until I come in and carry her to the living room. To say she's stubborn is to call the sun is as bright as a candle. Whenever I scold her she just walks away from me as to suggest, "You don't know what you're talking about." If I give her a timeout for beating on her brother, she just plays in her room. When I come to get her after a few minutes, she just marches right out of the room as if nothing ever happened. She's been annoyed with me lately because she is a swimmer. She loves the water. She swims under water in the tub! We have a pool in the backyard and for the life of her she can't understand why I haven't opened it up yet. I try to tell her that it's still too cold for swimming and she just looks at me and says, "No it isn't." Don't get me wrong, I know she knows more than me but she's 4, I'm 44 that should count for something but not to her. She just doesn't get me. I confuse the crap out of her. I can see her thinking, "Why doesn't he just listen to me?" Every day when the sun is out she asks me, "Is it summer now? The sun is shining." When I tell her "No it's still early spring and we can't go swimming for a couple of months." She just looks at me and gets pissed. Like it's my fault! Somewhere my wife is laughing.
....My son likes to watch cartoons on TV. For those of you who have younger children it's important to watch these shows. Some of them have content I'm not so sure my 4 year olds should watch. Granted, Michael's favorite show is Star Wars, The Clone Wars but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact it's my favorite show too and we always watch together. A lot of it goes over his head but he gets that Anikan Skywalker and Obi Wan Kanobi are cool dudes and we root for good over evil. He gets the whole Jedi thing. We have a great time watching together. But I digress. The other day I was watching a show called Ben-10 with him. I'm guessing Ben is 10 years old because he was talking about girls and making out and such. I don't really know what's going on but apparently he is fighting ghosts or something and has an ability to get special powers by punching his watch. Once again, I'm not sure of the whole gidst. Anyway, I say to Mike, "I'm not sure if you should be watching this show. I think that if it was called Ben-5 it would be more appropriate for your viewing." He says, "Yeah, but Daddy, then it wouldn't rhyme!"......I said, "Yeah but it has a lot of stuff that a kid your age probably shouldn't be watching." He said, "You know I like the action shows, like Star Wars The Clone Wars." DAMN!
....Yesterday we were watching TV and his sister wanted to watch a show. Mike and I were in my chair in the living room together and Janie(his sister) was right up in front of the TV......(side note...we have Storytime everyday. That's when I spend an hour reading to them...so don't go getting all high and mighty like I'm a shitty parent who let's them watch TV all the time like my wife thinks I do.....I just like to know what they're watching and this is a diatribe about the shows that they watch).....while I'm at it...my daughter Janie has the same disease her mother has, it's called Standing in Front of the TV So No One Else Can See Syndrome. My girl has no better viewing vantage point than directly in front of the screen. Even tonite while she was getting scared from the aliens in Aliens, she had to view the movie directly in front of the screen. I could see a planet exploding around a 4 year old's head....not the same thing as just seeing a planet explode...........now where the heck was I again....damn this is starting to get long. Oh yeah, Janie was watching her show. It was called Angelina Ballernina. It was about these mice who are ballerinas. I'm thinking okay I need to view this show and see if it's acceptable and it was so lame. The mice spoke in a british accent and were freaking ballerinas. Oh my gay! Anyway, I'm sitting there in the chair with Mike and I hear this snicker. Now I'm thinking that's the funniest thing I've ever heard because if it was my son, he was reading my mind. I wait. "Snicker." I look at him and he's grinning but trying not to grin....you know what I mean. I then, "Snicker." He's breaks up! The two of us started laughing out loud! It was so funny. But then because we didn't want to hurt Janie's feelings, we went back to snickering....quite frankly that was even funnier. It was a great father-son moment.
......Let me close with this one. When I talk to my sister on the phone, before we hang up she usually asks me for a good kid moment. Often times I can't come up with one because they come all the time you forget them easily....although since this blog has begun I have started writing down some of these so I can do a musings type blog like tonite.......it's my first foray into this style and I'm hoping it works....we'll see. My guess is it will get better feedback than when I rip a previous president. This would qualify as a good kid moment. I have been trying to get these two 4 year olds to pick up after themselves and it starts with cleaning their room. It amazes me how two little kids can make such a colossal mess of one small room. Anyhow, I told Mike he had to spend some time cleaning up his room with me. He said, "Daddy, when I'm 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or even 16 years old, I'll clean up my room all by myself." Naturally I replied, "Be careful son, I'm gonna hold you to that." Do you know what he said? "Yeah, but then you won't be able to pick me up."
It just goes to show you, the only thing I have gotten correct in my parenting days is that they are always a step ahead of me!
I gotta tell you Ellen Ripley is one bad-ass woman. Every time I see the sequel to Alien, Aliens I can't turn the channel. I have seen this movie dozens of times. I can remember being at Big Bill's house almost every nite watching this movie back in the late 80's. You see Bill had a VCR and back in those days not many did. Plus he had a couple of cool movies. One of which was Aliens and by gosh we watched it every nite. Even if I had to be home at a certain time, I would inevitably stay and watch the entire thing. "Get away from her you BITCH!" C'mon she was bad as hell. Great stuff. The ending was an amazing hour of terror but the beginning had great comic relief from Bill Paxton(Big Love, Tombstone)...."I say we grease the rat fink S.O.B. right now!"....or....."6 weeks and out man, and I'm gonna buy it on this rock!" Really great stuff. Just a great movie. If you haven't seen it, try to rent it or catch it on cable. If not I'll call Big Bill and see if you can borrow his copy(I'm sure he still has it and still watches it from time to time).
....I seem to write about my son a lot. Hey a father and son have a bond. I don't write a lot about my daughter(his twin sister) mainly because if you're a father of a daughter you know there is nothing they do wrong or that is funny or basically anything that is anything. The only thing I can say about her is that she is the 4 year old version of my wife(I still haven't decided if this is a good thing for our marriage.....you know I never spell marriage wrong because I lost out on a spelling bee in 8th grade on that word....isn't it nuts the stupid stuff you remember?....I guess those spelling bees weren't completely useless)...where in the heck was I? Oh yeah, my daughter. She's the most beautiful being I have ever laid eyes on. She waits in bed for me to come wake her up. She could be up for hours but won't get out of bed until I come in and carry her to the living room. To say she's stubborn is to call the sun is as bright as a candle. Whenever I scold her she just walks away from me as to suggest, "You don't know what you're talking about." If I give her a timeout for beating on her brother, she just plays in her room. When I come to get her after a few minutes, she just marches right out of the room as if nothing ever happened. She's been annoyed with me lately because she is a swimmer. She loves the water. She swims under water in the tub! We have a pool in the backyard and for the life of her she can't understand why I haven't opened it up yet. I try to tell her that it's still too cold for swimming and she just looks at me and says, "No it isn't." Don't get me wrong, I know she knows more than me but she's 4, I'm 44 that should count for something but not to her. She just doesn't get me. I confuse the crap out of her. I can see her thinking, "Why doesn't he just listen to me?" Every day when the sun is out she asks me, "Is it summer now? The sun is shining." When I tell her "No it's still early spring and we can't go swimming for a couple of months." She just looks at me and gets pissed. Like it's my fault! Somewhere my wife is laughing.
....My son likes to watch cartoons on TV. For those of you who have younger children it's important to watch these shows. Some of them have content I'm not so sure my 4 year olds should watch. Granted, Michael's favorite show is Star Wars, The Clone Wars but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact it's my favorite show too and we always watch together. A lot of it goes over his head but he gets that Anikan Skywalker and Obi Wan Kanobi are cool dudes and we root for good over evil. He gets the whole Jedi thing. We have a great time watching together. But I digress. The other day I was watching a show called Ben-10 with him. I'm guessing Ben is 10 years old because he was talking about girls and making out and such. I don't really know what's going on but apparently he is fighting ghosts or something and has an ability to get special powers by punching his watch. Once again, I'm not sure of the whole gidst. Anyway, I say to Mike, "I'm not sure if you should be watching this show. I think that if it was called Ben-5 it would be more appropriate for your viewing." He says, "Yeah, but Daddy, then it wouldn't rhyme!"......I said, "Yeah but it has a lot of stuff that a kid your age probably shouldn't be watching." He said, "You know I like the action shows, like Star Wars The Clone Wars." DAMN!
....Yesterday we were watching TV and his sister wanted to watch a show. Mike and I were in my chair in the living room together and Janie(his sister) was right up in front of the TV......(side note...we have Storytime everyday. That's when I spend an hour reading to them...so don't go getting all high and mighty like I'm a shitty parent who let's them watch TV all the time like my wife thinks I do.....I just like to know what they're watching and this is a diatribe about the shows that they watch).....while I'm at it...my daughter Janie has the same disease her mother has, it's called Standing in Front of the TV So No One Else Can See Syndrome. My girl has no better viewing vantage point than directly in front of the screen. Even tonite while she was getting scared from the aliens in Aliens, she had to view the movie directly in front of the screen. I could see a planet exploding around a 4 year old's head....not the same thing as just seeing a planet explode...........now where the heck was I again....damn this is starting to get long. Oh yeah, Janie was watching her show. It was called Angelina Ballernina. It was about these mice who are ballerinas. I'm thinking okay I need to view this show and see if it's acceptable and it was so lame. The mice spoke in a british accent and were freaking ballerinas. Oh my gay! Anyway, I'm sitting there in the chair with Mike and I hear this snicker. Now I'm thinking that's the funniest thing I've ever heard because if it was my son, he was reading my mind. I wait. "Snicker." I look at him and he's grinning but trying not to grin....you know what I mean. I then, "Snicker." He's breaks up! The two of us started laughing out loud! It was so funny. But then because we didn't want to hurt Janie's feelings, we went back to snickering....quite frankly that was even funnier. It was a great father-son moment.
......Let me close with this one. When I talk to my sister on the phone, before we hang up she usually asks me for a good kid moment. Often times I can't come up with one because they come all the time you forget them easily....although since this blog has begun I have started writing down some of these so I can do a musings type blog like tonite.......it's my first foray into this style and I'm hoping it works....we'll see. My guess is it will get better feedback than when I rip a previous president. This would qualify as a good kid moment. I have been trying to get these two 4 year olds to pick up after themselves and it starts with cleaning their room. It amazes me how two little kids can make such a colossal mess of one small room. Anyhow, I told Mike he had to spend some time cleaning up his room with me. He said, "Daddy, when I'm 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or even 16 years old, I'll clean up my room all by myself." Naturally I replied, "Be careful son, I'm gonna hold you to that." Do you know what he said? "Yeah, but then you won't be able to pick me up."
It just goes to show you, the only thing I have gotten correct in my parenting days is that they are always a step ahead of me!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
64 Days and Confused
We are 64 days into this presidency and it's already getting nuts. I've spent the last couple of hours watching President Obama's speech and the Q and A that followed with the media plus follow up reaction by various news stations......by the way, am I the only person in America that finds it wierd that the big 4 TV stations would rather run the likes of NCIS, House, Dancing with the Stars and the Biggest Loser(no lie) than run response to our nation's leader discussing what's going on with our country right now?...I wonder if this indifference or should I call it arrogance, was typical during the Great Depression?
Regardless, this was a doozy. No one knows if this stimulus package or budget proposal will work. I know at least we have a President who is trying. So much so, he looked pretty wiped out from his first 64. He kind of looked like Joe Dumars after covering Michael Jordan for 4 quarters. I'm proud of the fact we have a guy in office who is putting everything he's got into helping our country out of this tailspin. Blame the Repulicans of the last 8 years or blame the Democrats of the 8 years before that, it just doesn't matter we are all in this together and he seems legit in his efforts.
A 47 year old is closer to being someone who is my friend and caring about my situation than a 72 year old who is more like my father and looks at my situation differently. I'd hate to see what McCain would look like today after his first 64 days in this situation.
Let's speak about the presser tonite. I am extremely cautious whenever I see a speaker or interview-ee call on his/her questioners to ask questions. My experience has always taught me that this usually means the speaker has been briefed on the questions the media personnel are going to ask.
Tonite, if you noticed, there was a woman reporter who's name escapes me, but she was called upon to ask a question and she seemed shocked. So much so, that the President even asked her if she was surprised. She said, "Well, yes I am." Almost to suggest she thought her predetermined question was too aggressive that he would never call on her. To the President's credit he fielded some tough questions from the media tonite. But if you noticed, when the media member would take it upon themselves to ask a follow up question, he would answer quite curtly and abruptly. You could see his calm and cool dimeanor stiffen slightly. Media people are good at knowing how to get ahead and compete with each other more than most people. After the first questioner got away with a follow up question, the following media personnel did the same and Obama was clearly not pleased.
These follow ups were the unrehearsed questions that I believe he was not prepped on. Hence his reply to why it took him 2 days to respond to the AIG bonuses and he said, "I like to know what I'm talking about before I talk about it." Granted this is my read on the situation but I have been in enough press conferences to know the tricks of the trade.
Once again, this is neither here nor there. I did come away with some extreme positives tonite.
President Obama is pissed about AIG. He wants to correct the wrong that is the health care situation in this country. This health care situation is an abomination and it needs to be taken care of immediately. Our best doctors should be helping people(my brother in law is the best at what he does and he has to fight for clients). The crummy ones should be shown the door. We as citizens should not have to pay astronomical fees to be medically treated. Our children should be able to receive decent health care without taking out a second mortgage. It's just not right.
We are an economy that lives off of the spending of consumers. If we consumers had more money to spend instead of paying for the ridiculous price of health care, we would spend it. Unlike these corporate CEO's who are just keeping the money for themselves and not putting it back into the economy, the middle class are the spenders. Give us the money and we'll spend it on our children, our family and ourselves. This is what capitalism is all about.
One of the other points I heard that hit home tonite was when Obama was asked about the race issue. He proudly said, "Not after the first day."
Way to go Prez. People don't care if you're purple, we need some decisions to get us out of this mess. Let me tell you personally, this mess sucks. We need help out here. I respect our president for never playing the race card(although the media may have...I'm not stupid). I do lose respect for people who think because he is a man of race, the victory has been completed. Believe me the racial lines we have severed because of his election will be rebuilt so fast if he fails. It's crucial to our country's well being he succeeds.
We all need this to succeed. Republicans and Democrats alike. Many of my family and friends live in Michigan. This area needs help and fast. Nothing will help more than money to put back into the economy.
I for one am rooting for this country to turn the luxury liner around. Quicker than the Poseidon against a tidal wave.
One reason is because I've been telling my father I can handle things my way for a long, long time and I don't want to let him down. I never have.
Regardless, this was a doozy. No one knows if this stimulus package or budget proposal will work. I know at least we have a President who is trying. So much so, he looked pretty wiped out from his first 64. He kind of looked like Joe Dumars after covering Michael Jordan for 4 quarters. I'm proud of the fact we have a guy in office who is putting everything he's got into helping our country out of this tailspin. Blame the Repulicans of the last 8 years or blame the Democrats of the 8 years before that, it just doesn't matter we are all in this together and he seems legit in his efforts.
A 47 year old is closer to being someone who is my friend and caring about my situation than a 72 year old who is more like my father and looks at my situation differently. I'd hate to see what McCain would look like today after his first 64 days in this situation.
Let's speak about the presser tonite. I am extremely cautious whenever I see a speaker or interview-ee call on his/her questioners to ask questions. My experience has always taught me that this usually means the speaker has been briefed on the questions the media personnel are going to ask.
Tonite, if you noticed, there was a woman reporter who's name escapes me, but she was called upon to ask a question and she seemed shocked. So much so, that the President even asked her if she was surprised. She said, "Well, yes I am." Almost to suggest she thought her predetermined question was too aggressive that he would never call on her. To the President's credit he fielded some tough questions from the media tonite. But if you noticed, when the media member would take it upon themselves to ask a follow up question, he would answer quite curtly and abruptly. You could see his calm and cool dimeanor stiffen slightly. Media people are good at knowing how to get ahead and compete with each other more than most people. After the first questioner got away with a follow up question, the following media personnel did the same and Obama was clearly not pleased.
These follow ups were the unrehearsed questions that I believe he was not prepped on. Hence his reply to why it took him 2 days to respond to the AIG bonuses and he said, "I like to know what I'm talking about before I talk about it." Granted this is my read on the situation but I have been in enough press conferences to know the tricks of the trade.
Once again, this is neither here nor there. I did come away with some extreme positives tonite.
President Obama is pissed about AIG. He wants to correct the wrong that is the health care situation in this country. This health care situation is an abomination and it needs to be taken care of immediately. Our best doctors should be helping people(my brother in law is the best at what he does and he has to fight for clients). The crummy ones should be shown the door. We as citizens should not have to pay astronomical fees to be medically treated. Our children should be able to receive decent health care without taking out a second mortgage. It's just not right.
We are an economy that lives off of the spending of consumers. If we consumers had more money to spend instead of paying for the ridiculous price of health care, we would spend it. Unlike these corporate CEO's who are just keeping the money for themselves and not putting it back into the economy, the middle class are the spenders. Give us the money and we'll spend it on our children, our family and ourselves. This is what capitalism is all about.
One of the other points I heard that hit home tonite was when Obama was asked about the race issue. He proudly said, "Not after the first day."
Way to go Prez. People don't care if you're purple, we need some decisions to get us out of this mess. Let me tell you personally, this mess sucks. We need help out here. I respect our president for never playing the race card(although the media may have...I'm not stupid). I do lose respect for people who think because he is a man of race, the victory has been completed. Believe me the racial lines we have severed because of his election will be rebuilt so fast if he fails. It's crucial to our country's well being he succeeds.
We all need this to succeed. Republicans and Democrats alike. Many of my family and friends live in Michigan. This area needs help and fast. Nothing will help more than money to put back into the economy.
I for one am rooting for this country to turn the luxury liner around. Quicker than the Poseidon against a tidal wave.
One reason is because I've been telling my father I can handle things my way for a long, long time and I don't want to let him down. I never have.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Learning Scale of a Parent
My wife and my friends are next door at my neighbor's house. They're having a hoot of a time but I'm dying to blog. It's insane, but I couldn't concentrate on anything anyone was saying because all I could think about was my blog tonite and I got a good one! My wife even said to me, "You're dying to blog aren't you?" She knows me too well.
Okay, here we go. Yesterday, my son comes to me and says, "Daddy, I don't want you to be disappointed in me but I have something to tell you."
Now I know this is not going to be a good thing. If it was something stupid, he certainly wouldn't try to control my angst by telling me first...I brace myself....I feel myself clenching my teeth together as he gets ready to tell me.
"I broke the door off the TV stand."
Background time.....my wife and I have been telling this kid not to mess with the TV stand's door for weeks. He doesn't do it purposely, but he does it unconsciously. We are constantly telling him to stop because he is going to break to door.
Now he has broken the door. I'm about to lose my mind! He ripped the door off the hinges and every time I look at it, I realize there is virtually no way I'm going to be able to fix it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me?
So I sequester myself in a far away bedroom so I don't kill the child. I'm waiting for Mom to call me after her workout because she always calls me on her drive from the health club to work. She calls and is all giddy because the scale moved in the right direction. When she hears my tone she is concerned, "What's wrong?"
I tell her what happened and we discuss how to deal with it(she's privately proud of me for not beheading our child). After she calms me down, we come up with a proper punishment for the boy. I tell her, "I realized this morning that calling him a son of a bitch kills two birds with one stone!"
She realizes that me making lite of the situation meant I was calm enough and capable to deal with the next step which was the one-on-one discussion and the delivery of the punishment.
I then pick up my son and bring him into our bedroom. I explain to him that I'm not upset with him because he broke the door of the TV stand(mind you, this is 500+ dollar bureau type monstrosity my wife thought would look beautiful in our living room and it does...well did).....Side Note....why in the hell do we buy nice furniture when we know very well these freaking kids are going to ruin it? I remember as a kid we had the nastiest, orange colored chairs forever in our living room and I'm sure it was because my mom knew if we had nice chairs, us kids would just destroy them. We destroyed everything in our house. I'm sure my wife and her siblings destroyed everything that was decent in their house too. What the hell were we thinking when we bought this nice stuff?
Back to my son...I told him I don't care about the stuff...I care about the fact that you didn't listen to Mommy and Daddy. We told you if you kept messing with that door you would break it. I then told him the suckiest part of all, "You're going to have listen to people your entire life. Even if they tell you things you don't want to hear or believe."
I think that last part was more for me than him but what the heck I was in the zone.
Then I told him I had to punish him. I had to take away something he enjoyed. My wife and I had decided on his punishment.
This is what gets me. This whole parenting this is messed up. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I'm just trying not to screw up this beautiful kid's future.
I told him, "You're not allowed to play on the computer for the entire weekend."
He said, "How long is that?"
I said, "Well, it's today, tomorrow and Sunday."
He said, "Cool, that's not that long at all!" And he ran out of the room.
I was pissed. We should've came up with a more painfully suitable punishment. This one certainly wasn't that bad. Son of a bitch.
Parenting is tougher than I ever thought it would be. I'm still trying to figure it out. As much as my wife and I try to figure it out, our kids have us played. They seem to always be a step ahead of us.
Okay, here we go. Yesterday, my son comes to me and says, "Daddy, I don't want you to be disappointed in me but I have something to tell you."
Now I know this is not going to be a good thing. If it was something stupid, he certainly wouldn't try to control my angst by telling me first...I brace myself....I feel myself clenching my teeth together as he gets ready to tell me.
"I broke the door off the TV stand."
Background time.....my wife and I have been telling this kid not to mess with the TV stand's door for weeks. He doesn't do it purposely, but he does it unconsciously. We are constantly telling him to stop because he is going to break to door.
Now he has broken the door. I'm about to lose my mind! He ripped the door off the hinges and every time I look at it, I realize there is virtually no way I'm going to be able to fix it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me?
So I sequester myself in a far away bedroom so I don't kill the child. I'm waiting for Mom to call me after her workout because she always calls me on her drive from the health club to work. She calls and is all giddy because the scale moved in the right direction. When she hears my tone she is concerned, "What's wrong?"
I tell her what happened and we discuss how to deal with it(she's privately proud of me for not beheading our child). After she calms me down, we come up with a proper punishment for the boy. I tell her, "I realized this morning that calling him a son of a bitch kills two birds with one stone!"
She realizes that me making lite of the situation meant I was calm enough and capable to deal with the next step which was the one-on-one discussion and the delivery of the punishment.
I then pick up my son and bring him into our bedroom. I explain to him that I'm not upset with him because he broke the door of the TV stand(mind you, this is 500+ dollar bureau type monstrosity my wife thought would look beautiful in our living room and it does...well did).....Side Note....why in the hell do we buy nice furniture when we know very well these freaking kids are going to ruin it? I remember as a kid we had the nastiest, orange colored chairs forever in our living room and I'm sure it was because my mom knew if we had nice chairs, us kids would just destroy them. We destroyed everything in our house. I'm sure my wife and her siblings destroyed everything that was decent in their house too. What the hell were we thinking when we bought this nice stuff?
Back to my son...I told him I don't care about the stuff...I care about the fact that you didn't listen to Mommy and Daddy. We told you if you kept messing with that door you would break it. I then told him the suckiest part of all, "You're going to have listen to people your entire life. Even if they tell you things you don't want to hear or believe."
I think that last part was more for me than him but what the heck I was in the zone.
Then I told him I had to punish him. I had to take away something he enjoyed. My wife and I had decided on his punishment.
This is what gets me. This whole parenting this is messed up. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I'm just trying not to screw up this beautiful kid's future.
I told him, "You're not allowed to play on the computer for the entire weekend."
He said, "How long is that?"
I said, "Well, it's today, tomorrow and Sunday."
He said, "Cool, that's not that long at all!" And he ran out of the room.
I was pissed. We should've came up with a more painfully suitable punishment. This one certainly wasn't that bad. Son of a bitch.
Parenting is tougher than I ever thought it would be. I'm still trying to figure it out. As much as my wife and I try to figure it out, our kids have us played. They seem to always be a step ahead of us.
Friday, March 20, 2009
AIG....OMG!
I have to speak about this whole AIG scandal. It's amazing and appalling to me that corporations like this are so arrogant they not only think their actions aren't despicable, they don't realize they did something horrible to our entire country....this may be going a bit far but what the heck, I'm pissed. We all should be pissed. Someone should tell these idiots that trickle-down only works if there is a trickle! These people think trickle-down is what gets on your pants after taking a pee at the urinal.
This is a direct slam on the taxpayers of our country and the people in charge should be held responsible. I am so sick and tired of the people at the top getting a free ride. It's so easy for them to blame someone else in the company but in reality if somethings bad happens while you're the boss, it's your fault. Stand up and take your beating.
I had a boss who knew how to be a boss. I saw him many times handle mishaps at our business because, "It's ultimately my responsibility and I'll handle it." I must admit there were times when he had to handle something I may have handled improperly but I saw him take care of problems regularly. After all, isn't that why he was put in that position in the first place? Mind you, he would never forget having to handle it and sometimes would call it to your memory, but I never saw him back down from taking the responsibility first and foremost.
My favorite punching bag Bud Selig(commissioner of baseball) has done this several times during his tenure. He blames the players for abusing the right to play baseball for millions of dollars by injecting steroids into their bodies. Wasn't he the one sitting at home watching the players get bigger and bigger? Wasn't he the one sitting at the ballpark and seeing the size of the player's heads grow abnormally? After all he has reminded us time and time again that no one watches more baseball than him. Are we so blind we can't see his direct benefit from players getting bigger and stronger? I can think of 17+ millions reasons a year how he has benefited....his salary was posted this year.
I should say that it scares me that the Congressional solution is to tax the bonuses paid by AIG by 90%. I agree the money should be returned to the taxpayers of our nation, but this seems like a very slippery slope we are treading upon. Congress has enough power as it is, but to utilize the power to take money away from working people in the future is a whole new bag of worms. Democrat or Republican control, I sure don't want my world taxed anymore than it already is and 90% is a pretty big number. That's the highest percentage I have seen in my lifetime.
Personally, I think the insurance industry is pretty nuts. We have to pay for insurance on everything. I can't get a car without buying insurance. I can't get a home without insurance.
I can't a mortgage without mortgage insurance. I can't have children without insurance. Think about how the doctor bills add up when you have 5 year old twins even with insurance! And the most ridiculous part of it all is the insurance companies have set themselves up with insurance too. If you get in a car accident, you get a payout to help with your bills(after paying your deductible) but then they raise your rates because you aren't as safe anymore and they essentially get their money back. Try getting health insurance if you're not healthy. Forget about it. If you get sick, they raise your rates because now you aren't as healthy as you were. This is all said without the fact if you don't get in a car accident or you don't get sick they continue to receive your premiums and pay nothing out. It is the epitome of win-win-win. They just can't lose.
Think about this for one moment. If you drive without your seat belt on you get a ticket. How does you driving without a seat belt make my life any safer? I don't care if you want to risk your life. I know my kids will always be in the proper car seat and buckled down for their own safety. I know I will buckle because I want my kids to have a daddy for as long as possible. You are not a safer driver if you don't wear your seat belt. The biggest benefit is to the insurance companies. They save money if you don't get hurt in an accident. They save money if you are not thrown from a vehicle.
I know it's out there and quite a scary thought but I get these all the time and one of the reasons I started this website was to get them out. Frankly my friends and family are a little tired of hearing me say, "I have a theory about that."
Bottom line is that selfishness can make people do some awful things. Even to an entire country.
This is a direct slam on the taxpayers of our country and the people in charge should be held responsible. I am so sick and tired of the people at the top getting a free ride. It's so easy for them to blame someone else in the company but in reality if somethings bad happens while you're the boss, it's your fault. Stand up and take your beating.
I had a boss who knew how to be a boss. I saw him many times handle mishaps at our business because, "It's ultimately my responsibility and I'll handle it." I must admit there were times when he had to handle something I may have handled improperly but I saw him take care of problems regularly. After all, isn't that why he was put in that position in the first place? Mind you, he would never forget having to handle it and sometimes would call it to your memory, but I never saw him back down from taking the responsibility first and foremost.
My favorite punching bag Bud Selig(commissioner of baseball) has done this several times during his tenure. He blames the players for abusing the right to play baseball for millions of dollars by injecting steroids into their bodies. Wasn't he the one sitting at home watching the players get bigger and bigger? Wasn't he the one sitting at the ballpark and seeing the size of the player's heads grow abnormally? After all he has reminded us time and time again that no one watches more baseball than him. Are we so blind we can't see his direct benefit from players getting bigger and stronger? I can think of 17+ millions reasons a year how he has benefited....his salary was posted this year.
I should say that it scares me that the Congressional solution is to tax the bonuses paid by AIG by 90%. I agree the money should be returned to the taxpayers of our nation, but this seems like a very slippery slope we are treading upon. Congress has enough power as it is, but to utilize the power to take money away from working people in the future is a whole new bag of worms. Democrat or Republican control, I sure don't want my world taxed anymore than it already is and 90% is a pretty big number. That's the highest percentage I have seen in my lifetime.
Personally, I think the insurance industry is pretty nuts. We have to pay for insurance on everything. I can't get a car without buying insurance. I can't get a home without insurance.
I can't a mortgage without mortgage insurance. I can't have children without insurance. Think about how the doctor bills add up when you have 5 year old twins even with insurance! And the most ridiculous part of it all is the insurance companies have set themselves up with insurance too. If you get in a car accident, you get a payout to help with your bills(after paying your deductible) but then they raise your rates because you aren't as safe anymore and they essentially get their money back. Try getting health insurance if you're not healthy. Forget about it. If you get sick, they raise your rates because now you aren't as healthy as you were. This is all said without the fact if you don't get in a car accident or you don't get sick they continue to receive your premiums and pay nothing out. It is the epitome of win-win-win. They just can't lose.
Think about this for one moment. If you drive without your seat belt on you get a ticket. How does you driving without a seat belt make my life any safer? I don't care if you want to risk your life. I know my kids will always be in the proper car seat and buckled down for their own safety. I know I will buckle because I want my kids to have a daddy for as long as possible. You are not a safer driver if you don't wear your seat belt. The biggest benefit is to the insurance companies. They save money if you don't get hurt in an accident. They save money if you are not thrown from a vehicle.
I know it's out there and quite a scary thought but I get these all the time and one of the reasons I started this website was to get them out. Frankly my friends and family are a little tired of hearing me say, "I have a theory about that."
Bottom line is that selfishness can make people do some awful things. Even to an entire country.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Michael for Commissioner
It's time for the commissioners of our favorite sports leagues to step down. Talk about your typical AIG assholes. David Stern, Bud Selig, Gary Bettman and the latest NFL stooge should all step aside. They have devastated the sports we have come to know and love. I am so sick and tired of hearing about these pampered pro atheletes and how we need to be passionate and give them a second, third and sometimes fourth chance.
These commissioner have been giving themselves raises year in and year out while they allow athletes to denigrate our sports. Bud Selig is the George Bush of our baseball era. He speaks about how player/owner relations have never been better but never mentions the fact that he was the cause of baseball fans all over the country missing out on the playoffs and World Series because of these same "relations".
Bush always said we haven't had a terrorist attack since 911. But "Hello"....911 happened on his watch. The same is true for Selig. His regime will always be known as the "make money for myself regardless of what happens to the sport" era. Just think about the "steroid era".
David Stern has turned what was a fun sport to watch into a "who cares" league.
Gary Bettman could be the most volatile of the group. His arrogance lost us fans an ENTIRE SEASON! An entire season. This arrogant piece of garbage(edited for content) felt he was bigger than all of the fans of hockey that he didn't think it would hurt the game if we lost an entire season.
What a freaking joke. If you saw how much these so-called overseers of our sports made per year, you would puke. They have proved to us that they don't care about the fans or the game they are supposedly overseeing and that they only care about putting money in their own pockets.
Personally, I feel this is the genesis of all the problems with our economy and well being presently but I try to stay away from the political arguments on this blog because I really want my sister Peggy to read(although I don't think she does).
I have a solution to the commissioner dilemma we are saddled with today. I propose my son, Michael become commissioner of all the sports leagues.
Hey, he turns 5 in a couple weeks. He certainly could do better than the people we have in position now.
Michael would tell Marshawn Lynch who is hoping his suspension won't be 4 games and only 2 for carrying a loaded weapon in publc that he needs a timeout and is due for a spanking. Now that it's his second time in "timeout land", he's done. Mike will take away something Marshawn wants, to teach him a lesson.....the opportunity to partake in the NFL is perfect. Guess what Marshawn, you're gone. Mike would have no problem telling him that. Listen if it isn't fit for a 5 year old then you shouldn't do it.
Let's look at that. If a 5 year old shouldn't see it, than don't do it. If you do something a 5 year old wouldn't approve of, you're gone. Quit all this pampering b.s.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should go to jail. They lied to a grand jury. My 5 year old knows not to lie. These cheaters need to realize the consequences of their actions and own up to it. If they get to go free without paying a substantial price, my son will think it's okay to lie.....even to a grand jury.
I've heard it all before. Athletes aren't role models. I realize this but the fact is that kids in the world look up to them. If they can't uphold simple values then they should be shown the door.
Pacman Jones is a bad person. He's proved it over and over. Why can't these commissioners just say good-bye. I don't care if a team feels they are being cheated because the guy they spent so much money on can't behave himself in public. Sorry, you drafted him or traded for him, do some research and know what kind of person, not just what kind of player, you are getting.
The bottom line is that these commissioners know that the high profile players make them money. I say my son can draw a more discriminate line than these pawns.
If a player's actions make a 5 year old uncomfortable, than they should be done. No second chances.
In an economy where people are losing their jobs and their houses at an incredible rate but athletes salaries are still reaching new highs, the right and priveledge to play sports should become more treasured. These low-lifes who seem to think they are above it all should not be allowed to participate.
If they can't respect it, they shouldn't be able to take part.
My son knows this.....he'd be a great commissioner.
These commissioner have been giving themselves raises year in and year out while they allow athletes to denigrate our sports. Bud Selig is the George Bush of our baseball era. He speaks about how player/owner relations have never been better but never mentions the fact that he was the cause of baseball fans all over the country missing out on the playoffs and World Series because of these same "relations".
Bush always said we haven't had a terrorist attack since 911. But "Hello"....911 happened on his watch. The same is true for Selig. His regime will always be known as the "make money for myself regardless of what happens to the sport" era. Just think about the "steroid era".
David Stern has turned what was a fun sport to watch into a "who cares" league.
Gary Bettman could be the most volatile of the group. His arrogance lost us fans an ENTIRE SEASON! An entire season. This arrogant piece of garbage(edited for content) felt he was bigger than all of the fans of hockey that he didn't think it would hurt the game if we lost an entire season.
What a freaking joke. If you saw how much these so-called overseers of our sports made per year, you would puke. They have proved to us that they don't care about the fans or the game they are supposedly overseeing and that they only care about putting money in their own pockets.
Personally, I feel this is the genesis of all the problems with our economy and well being presently but I try to stay away from the political arguments on this blog because I really want my sister Peggy to read(although I don't think she does).
I have a solution to the commissioner dilemma we are saddled with today. I propose my son, Michael become commissioner of all the sports leagues.
Hey, he turns 5 in a couple weeks. He certainly could do better than the people we have in position now.
Michael would tell Marshawn Lynch who is hoping his suspension won't be 4 games and only 2 for carrying a loaded weapon in publc that he needs a timeout and is due for a spanking. Now that it's his second time in "timeout land", he's done. Mike will take away something Marshawn wants, to teach him a lesson.....the opportunity to partake in the NFL is perfect. Guess what Marshawn, you're gone. Mike would have no problem telling him that. Listen if it isn't fit for a 5 year old then you shouldn't do it.
Let's look at that. If a 5 year old shouldn't see it, than don't do it. If you do something a 5 year old wouldn't approve of, you're gone. Quit all this pampering b.s.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should go to jail. They lied to a grand jury. My 5 year old knows not to lie. These cheaters need to realize the consequences of their actions and own up to it. If they get to go free without paying a substantial price, my son will think it's okay to lie.....even to a grand jury.
I've heard it all before. Athletes aren't role models. I realize this but the fact is that kids in the world look up to them. If they can't uphold simple values then they should be shown the door.
Pacman Jones is a bad person. He's proved it over and over. Why can't these commissioners just say good-bye. I don't care if a team feels they are being cheated because the guy they spent so much money on can't behave himself in public. Sorry, you drafted him or traded for him, do some research and know what kind of person, not just what kind of player, you are getting.
The bottom line is that these commissioners know that the high profile players make them money. I say my son can draw a more discriminate line than these pawns.
If a player's actions make a 5 year old uncomfortable, than they should be done. No second chances.
In an economy where people are losing their jobs and their houses at an incredible rate but athletes salaries are still reaching new highs, the right and priveledge to play sports should become more treasured. These low-lifes who seem to think they are above it all should not be allowed to participate.
If they can't respect it, they shouldn't be able to take part.
My son knows this.....he'd be a great commissioner.
USA....It's a Good Feeling
I say "U"...you say "S"....I say "A".....USA....USA....USA! You gotta be kidding me. A three run rally in the bottom of the ninth? Say it ain't so!
I feel like Tony in West Side Story...."We beat the Puerto Ricans!"
After the PR's beat the crap out of us this week and we walked off the field beaten by slaughter rule, all I wanted was another crack at them. I watched the game last nite that had Venezuala vs. Puerto Rico and I rooted for Puerto Rico to lose so we could face them again. Vindication was all I wanted.
Let me regroup for a moment. David Wright's double tonite made me a little on the giddy side of life.
I live in Chicagoland. Every fan of every team in this town believes they are on the team they root for. When the Cubs win a game, my friends all say the same thing, "Did you see how well we played?"
When the Bears win a game it's, "Did you see how well we played on defense today?"
When the Blackhawks win a game....of course it's not against the Red Wings....it's always the same thing, "We played so well on both ends of the ice!"
The World Baseball Classic has actually brought me closer to my Chicago fan friends. This is a team I can call we with all my friends.
I'm not from here originally. My ties are to my Detroit teams that I grew up with. This doesn't go over too well with my Chicago fan friends. They understand, but the rivalries of our teams is rooted beneath our friendships.
The beauty of the WBC is that we can all say we when we talk about our team in this tournament. We're rooting for America. And that my friends is the ultimate we.
I had to have corned beef and cabbage at our friends house tonite because I don't have the MLB network at home. It was all good. I did feel a little like an outsider as I didn't participate in the nice outdoor weather on the patio, but I was watching the game. What a game it turned out to be!
As my wife was leaving in the top of the ninth, she noticed the score and said she was sorry we weren't winning. I told her it wasn't over yet. She grinned and took the kids home. I know she was thinking, "Keep hoping babe. Just don't be too late." She didn't say it and that's probably why I love her because she really does know when to keep her mouth shut when it comes to my sports passions.
My nephew, who was "texting" the whole freaking game was actually in the same room with me so I said to him, "We've got good guys coming up in the ninth, this game isn't over." He grunted at me so I knew he was alive which was more response I had gotten from him the whole game to this point but I was starved for attention.
Single....single....stolen base....out....walk....walk(run)....double....GAME OVER!
I was screaming from my chair. Move over Rover and let Jimi take over. Let's move to the next round.
Everyone said we were dead.
Say what you will about the WBC. It causes injuries. Players don't get enough consistent work. I don't care. What I do care about is that I'm enjoying competitive baseball in mid-March. The best part is that I'm cheering for us!
Team USA seems to have adopted a spirit that we can all take to heart. They are playing for us. These are guys who battle each other on the field during the regular baseball season but have come together and built unity regardless of otherwise feelings.
We are headed to the next round. I couldn't be more happy for us!
It's nice to be rooting for the USA with my friends!
Funny, I root for the USA every day.....baseball or other.
I feel like Tony in West Side Story...."We beat the Puerto Ricans!"
After the PR's beat the crap out of us this week and we walked off the field beaten by slaughter rule, all I wanted was another crack at them. I watched the game last nite that had Venezuala vs. Puerto Rico and I rooted for Puerto Rico to lose so we could face them again. Vindication was all I wanted.
Let me regroup for a moment. David Wright's double tonite made me a little on the giddy side of life.
I live in Chicagoland. Every fan of every team in this town believes they are on the team they root for. When the Cubs win a game, my friends all say the same thing, "Did you see how well we played?"
When the Bears win a game it's, "Did you see how well we played on defense today?"
When the Blackhawks win a game....of course it's not against the Red Wings....it's always the same thing, "We played so well on both ends of the ice!"
The World Baseball Classic has actually brought me closer to my Chicago fan friends. This is a team I can call we with all my friends.
I'm not from here originally. My ties are to my Detroit teams that I grew up with. This doesn't go over too well with my Chicago fan friends. They understand, but the rivalries of our teams is rooted beneath our friendships.
The beauty of the WBC is that we can all say we when we talk about our team in this tournament. We're rooting for America. And that my friends is the ultimate we.
I had to have corned beef and cabbage at our friends house tonite because I don't have the MLB network at home. It was all good. I did feel a little like an outsider as I didn't participate in the nice outdoor weather on the patio, but I was watching the game. What a game it turned out to be!
As my wife was leaving in the top of the ninth, she noticed the score and said she was sorry we weren't winning. I told her it wasn't over yet. She grinned and took the kids home. I know she was thinking, "Keep hoping babe. Just don't be too late." She didn't say it and that's probably why I love her because she really does know when to keep her mouth shut when it comes to my sports passions.
My nephew, who was "texting" the whole freaking game was actually in the same room with me so I said to him, "We've got good guys coming up in the ninth, this game isn't over." He grunted at me so I knew he was alive which was more response I had gotten from him the whole game to this point but I was starved for attention.
Single....single....stolen base....out....walk....walk(run)....double....GAME OVER!
I was screaming from my chair. Move over Rover and let Jimi take over. Let's move to the next round.
Everyone said we were dead.
Say what you will about the WBC. It causes injuries. Players don't get enough consistent work. I don't care. What I do care about is that I'm enjoying competitive baseball in mid-March. The best part is that I'm cheering for us!
Team USA seems to have adopted a spirit that we can all take to heart. They are playing for us. These are guys who battle each other on the field during the regular baseball season but have come together and built unity regardless of otherwise feelings.
We are headed to the next round. I couldn't be more happy for us!
It's nice to be rooting for the USA with my friends!
Funny, I root for the USA every day.....baseball or other.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Baseball Memories for a Lifetime
Taxes are due to be done. Kids just want to go outside because it's 65 degrees and sunny. Laundry is piling up............"Daddy, can we play baseball?"....."Are you kidding?....yes son, let's just find our gloves and the ball and the bat.....do you have shoes on?.....whoops, we're playing already and I just noticed you don't have pants on!.........sure we can play baseball!" That was me today.
We played..I pitch/you hit 3 times today. It's a great game. I pitch underhand to my son and he rips it way off to my right and I have to chase the ball down the street while Michael runs around the "bases" as if he hit a homerun. He's only 5 years old and he can't hit it that far yet, but if it's off to my right, I'm trotting after that ball down the street. He knows it's going to take me awhile to get it, so he can make it all the way around by the time I get back to the "pitcher's mound".
Let me tell you, I was the first to say, "Last one?" Remind you this happened 3 times today. I'm gassed. He's done too. He crashed early tonite. He had nothing left in the tank after "Harrison steak" and potatoes tonite!
I want nothing more than for my son to love baseball. Last nite while we were watching the USA vs. Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, he sat in my chair w/me.
He said to me, "Daddy, I love baseball and I like watching it with you. I think this is the first time we've ever watched baseball together and I like it."
I had no reply than a grunted, "Yup." I was so choked up, I had nothing else.
My little guy doesn't realize something......time for some recap.......
My twins were born on the Cub's home opener in 2004. Janie was 4 lbs, 11ozs and Michael was 3lbs, 11ozs. If you've had children you know that the day after they're born they lose a half a pound. Day 2, Michael was only 3lbs, 3ozs and not eating that well. Janie was 4lbs, 3ozs but eating like a champ and was doing great.
That nite I left at midnite.....the nite they were born...it was a Monday....on Tuesday when I get back to the hospital, Janie was already in the room with my wife. My brother and sister in-law were there with my wife and doting over Janie(she's a beautiful girl and was a ray of light as a baby!).
I hugged Janie, held her and kissed my wife and then I disappeared.
I went straight down to NICU where Michael was under the heat lamp. I sat with him for hours. While I was with him the phone in our area rang and the nurse told me it was for me.
It was my wife and she was crying....you see she had left her bed the nite before to see our babies and puked all over NICU because of the drugs she was on after her major surgery to give birth....they weren't too geeked to see her soon after that.....she asked me how Mike was. She was so happy holding our new baby girl but she was so scared about our boy. I've never felt more empathy for her.
You see, I was worried about my boy. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter with every ounce of my heart, but there will always be something between a father and his son. Granted there will always be something between a father and his daughter but this story kinda works the other way.
I sat with him all night and the next day he was eating better and able to come upstairs to be with his mother and me. The next couple days at the hospital were awesome. We would hold the kids all day long and whenever they got fussy or would want to be fed or changed all we had to do was call the nurses and they took care of it.
When we were leaving I asked if they could come with us and they said they couldn't. Bummer!
Friday, I took the whole family home. It was the scariest drive of my life. Michael was just over 3 pounds and Janie was just over 4 pounds. Neither of them fit in the car seats. I was driving 25mph in a 40mph zone. It was hilarious. My wife said, "There are kids on their bikes passing us!"
Anyway, to make a long story longer....I got everyone home safely. The next day, Saturday, I sat with Michael in my favorite chair , the same chair we were in yesterday, and we watched a day game at Wrigley. He couldn't even keep his head up but it was aaaawwwweeeesooooome for me!
When he said that to me last nite, it brought a tear to my eye because I will never forget watching that first baseball game with him, who at the time wasn't more than 3 and a half pounds of a person.
I'm gassed and my knees are killing me because I chased hits from him all day but you know what?.........it's worth it!
We played..I pitch/you hit 3 times today. It's a great game. I pitch underhand to my son and he rips it way off to my right and I have to chase the ball down the street while Michael runs around the "bases" as if he hit a homerun. He's only 5 years old and he can't hit it that far yet, but if it's off to my right, I'm trotting after that ball down the street. He knows it's going to take me awhile to get it, so he can make it all the way around by the time I get back to the "pitcher's mound".
Let me tell you, I was the first to say, "Last one?" Remind you this happened 3 times today. I'm gassed. He's done too. He crashed early tonite. He had nothing left in the tank after "Harrison steak" and potatoes tonite!
I want nothing more than for my son to love baseball. Last nite while we were watching the USA vs. Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, he sat in my chair w/me.
He said to me, "Daddy, I love baseball and I like watching it with you. I think this is the first time we've ever watched baseball together and I like it."
I had no reply than a grunted, "Yup." I was so choked up, I had nothing else.
My little guy doesn't realize something......time for some recap.......
My twins were born on the Cub's home opener in 2004. Janie was 4 lbs, 11ozs and Michael was 3lbs, 11ozs. If you've had children you know that the day after they're born they lose a half a pound. Day 2, Michael was only 3lbs, 3ozs and not eating that well. Janie was 4lbs, 3ozs but eating like a champ and was doing great.
That nite I left at midnite.....the nite they were born...it was a Monday....on Tuesday when I get back to the hospital, Janie was already in the room with my wife. My brother and sister in-law were there with my wife and doting over Janie(she's a beautiful girl and was a ray of light as a baby!).
I hugged Janie, held her and kissed my wife and then I disappeared.
I went straight down to NICU where Michael was under the heat lamp. I sat with him for hours. While I was with him the phone in our area rang and the nurse told me it was for me.
It was my wife and she was crying....you see she had left her bed the nite before to see our babies and puked all over NICU because of the drugs she was on after her major surgery to give birth....they weren't too geeked to see her soon after that.....she asked me how Mike was. She was so happy holding our new baby girl but she was so scared about our boy. I've never felt more empathy for her.
You see, I was worried about my boy. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter with every ounce of my heart, but there will always be something between a father and his son. Granted there will always be something between a father and his daughter but this story kinda works the other way.
I sat with him all night and the next day he was eating better and able to come upstairs to be with his mother and me. The next couple days at the hospital were awesome. We would hold the kids all day long and whenever they got fussy or would want to be fed or changed all we had to do was call the nurses and they took care of it.
When we were leaving I asked if they could come with us and they said they couldn't. Bummer!
Friday, I took the whole family home. It was the scariest drive of my life. Michael was just over 3 pounds and Janie was just over 4 pounds. Neither of them fit in the car seats. I was driving 25mph in a 40mph zone. It was hilarious. My wife said, "There are kids on their bikes passing us!"
Anyway, to make a long story longer....I got everyone home safely. The next day, Saturday, I sat with Michael in my favorite chair , the same chair we were in yesterday, and we watched a day game at Wrigley. He couldn't even keep his head up but it was aaaawwwweeeesooooome for me!
When he said that to me last nite, it brought a tear to my eye because I will never forget watching that first baseball game with him, who at the time wasn't more than 3 and a half pounds of a person.
I'm gassed and my knees are killing me because I chased hits from him all day but you know what?.........it's worth it!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Life at the Kid's Table
I found out tonite that I'm not in the wedding party. How many times has this come up in your life? Don't get me wrong, I've been in plenty. It just doesn't matter how many people you know who decide to get married there is always that thought in your head...maybe I'll get asked to stand up.
Every time I have stood up in a wedding, I have had a blast. My two favorite Tim's come to mind. Good times.
My sister-in-law recently found the right man....after an exhausted search(sorry Steve). Four months in, my new friend Shaun asked her to marry him. She said yes and all is happy in sister-in-law land. Except for one problem.....
I ask some simple questions. Who was there when your country-ass was scared about asking her to marry you? Who talked you down from the ledge when her kids scared the crap out of you? Who stood tall behind you when you weren't sure she'd say yes? Who befriended you when everyone else thought you were just another flash in the pan? Ooops....was that out loud?
Damn I do that all the time. It's not that I'm bitter about not being asked to stand up in the wedding....it's, it's, it's....I'm bitter about not being asked to stand up in the wedding.
You see....my wife is in the wedding and my children are both in the wedding too....I'm not sure what the hell the kids are doing, but I do know I'm paying for a small dress and a small tux for 5 year olds.
Sure...use my kids to make your wedding special, but don't worry about me....I'm good....I never wanted to be a part of your nuptuals.
Are you starting to feel me? I don't know if you know what it's like to break through the binds that tie in a family like my in-laws.....it's rough. I've been through it. I liked Shaun from the beginning and we have become friends. The cool thing is it wasn't because of effort. It was because we have things in common and he is a genuinely good guy. I have been there for him through the uncomfortable "getting to know everyone" period. He always knew he had a fall back in me.
Now I must put this all in perspective. My sister-in-law, Kathy is having her two sisters stand up. Shaun is having his son from a previous marriage and Kathy's son from a previous marriage stand up with him(apparently I needed to be from a previous marriage to stand up). This is all admirable. But what the heck? Am I chopped liver over here? Everyone in my family is standing up in this freaking wedding but me. I'm going to be at the table in the back of the room with the children who were allowed to come to the wedding because their parents couldn't find or afford a babysitter.
Have you ever been at a wedding where your spouse or date is in the wedding party? It sucks. The conversation at your dinner table is so uncomfortable. "Soooo.....you're close the bride and groom but not close enough to be considered to stand up?"
"No, no that's my entire family up there. Really they like me. It's not just my family they like."
Okay. I realize I'm being selfish. Let me put this out there. Kathy and Shaun are a great couple. Shaun has made my sister a happier and stronger woman than I have ever seen her. They truly are in love and make a great couple because they make each other better people by being together. I love them both and wish nothing but happiness for them in the many years to come.
In the meantime, I guess I'll just enjoy this family-style chicken at the kid's table.
Every time I have stood up in a wedding, I have had a blast. My two favorite Tim's come to mind. Good times.
My sister-in-law recently found the right man....after an exhausted search(sorry Steve). Four months in, my new friend Shaun asked her to marry him. She said yes and all is happy in sister-in-law land. Except for one problem.....
I ask some simple questions. Who was there when your country-ass was scared about asking her to marry you? Who talked you down from the ledge when her kids scared the crap out of you? Who stood tall behind you when you weren't sure she'd say yes? Who befriended you when everyone else thought you were just another flash in the pan? Ooops....was that out loud?
Damn I do that all the time. It's not that I'm bitter about not being asked to stand up in the wedding....it's, it's, it's....I'm bitter about not being asked to stand up in the wedding.
You see....my wife is in the wedding and my children are both in the wedding too....I'm not sure what the hell the kids are doing, but I do know I'm paying for a small dress and a small tux for 5 year olds.
Sure...use my kids to make your wedding special, but don't worry about me....I'm good....I never wanted to be a part of your nuptuals.
Are you starting to feel me? I don't know if you know what it's like to break through the binds that tie in a family like my in-laws.....it's rough. I've been through it. I liked Shaun from the beginning and we have become friends. The cool thing is it wasn't because of effort. It was because we have things in common and he is a genuinely good guy. I have been there for him through the uncomfortable "getting to know everyone" period. He always knew he had a fall back in me.
Now I must put this all in perspective. My sister-in-law, Kathy is having her two sisters stand up. Shaun is having his son from a previous marriage and Kathy's son from a previous marriage stand up with him(apparently I needed to be from a previous marriage to stand up). This is all admirable. But what the heck? Am I chopped liver over here? Everyone in my family is standing up in this freaking wedding but me. I'm going to be at the table in the back of the room with the children who were allowed to come to the wedding because their parents couldn't find or afford a babysitter.
Have you ever been at a wedding where your spouse or date is in the wedding party? It sucks. The conversation at your dinner table is so uncomfortable. "Soooo.....you're close the bride and groom but not close enough to be considered to stand up?"
"No, no that's my entire family up there. Really they like me. It's not just my family they like."
Okay. I realize I'm being selfish. Let me put this out there. Kathy and Shaun are a great couple. Shaun has made my sister a happier and stronger woman than I have ever seen her. They truly are in love and make a great couple because they make each other better people by being together. I love them both and wish nothing but happiness for them in the many years to come.
In the meantime, I guess I'll just enjoy this family-style chicken at the kid's table.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Unacceptable Listener
REO Speedwagon....Oh my! My wife and I had some friends over last night(we have people over often....hey, we like it....others like it too...at least I guess they do or they wouldn't be coming over now would they?). We were having a nice time chatting and conversating in the kitchen(why do people always congregate in the freaking kitchen all the time? I just don't get it....I had a nice fire in the fireplace going in the living room, but everyone gathered in the kitchen....the kids were in the living room! Personally, I don't think they gave a flying poop about my nice fire....but anyway....), when my wife came in she put a cd into the kitchen stereo and turned REO Speedwagon all the way to "eleven".
The conversation ended but the rockin started as she loaded Speedwagon's greatest hits of the 70's and 80's. We're talking, Golden Country, Like you do, Roll with the Changes, etc. Everyone was enjoying it (I even did a special "air piano" during Roll with the Changes that was spot on). It got me to thinking.
When I was in my teens....growing up in the Detroit suburbs....we didn't listen to REO. They were too "Top 40". You see I rocked to REO when they put out the songs I listed above. But when they came out with that sucky top 40 album, High Infedelity, all interest in them became unacceptable.
My friend Ricky and I would listen to songs like Golden Country and push the volume to the maximum level. After that top 40 sellout album, we didn't. If there were people in the car and Golden Country came on we would switch stations. We knew it was a great tune but because of the sellout album, we just couldn't be accepted if we listened to them anymore.
My sister tonite gave me a great label....."The Unacceptable Listener". I was telling her of the tale of our gathering last nite and she said that my wife is an "Unacceptable Listener". I was slightly confused. She told me that the first time she came to visit me in Chicagoland, my wife introduced her to "Disco Saturday Nite" on the radio. There was a radio station in town not long ago that used to play nothing but disco on Saturday nites. My wife used to blare that music all nite long. She said it loud and she said it proud!
My sister told me, "That's when I knew your wife was an Unacceptable Listener."
My wife is not afraid to listen to music that might be labeled "unacceptable". She listens to what makes her feel good. No matter what anyone else may think.
I know I have always been that way. I can think back to my Pablo Cruise album(I can't talk to you now because I'm at the bottom of the pool). But I wasn't always able to put it out there in the open.
We should all be "Unacceptable Listeners" when it comes to the music we love. Music fills our hearts and souls with that unexplainable yearning. Music tells the tale of our lives.
I can remember one of the first conversations I had with my wife. We talked about the music we liked. After melding our music tastes together, I knew I would marry her. It was a defining moment. It still is. Music is unexplainable, but it is a need. We need it. It is a way for us to express ourselves without expressing ourselves.
Sharing music with others is about the best feeling I ever feel.
Here is something we can all learn from my wife.....being an "Unacceptable Listener" is not something for which you should be ashamed.
By the way....Journey was my first concert.
The conversation ended but the rockin started as she loaded Speedwagon's greatest hits of the 70's and 80's. We're talking, Golden Country, Like you do, Roll with the Changes, etc. Everyone was enjoying it (I even did a special "air piano" during Roll with the Changes that was spot on). It got me to thinking.
When I was in my teens....growing up in the Detroit suburbs....we didn't listen to REO. They were too "Top 40". You see I rocked to REO when they put out the songs I listed above. But when they came out with that sucky top 40 album, High Infedelity, all interest in them became unacceptable.
My friend Ricky and I would listen to songs like Golden Country and push the volume to the maximum level. After that top 40 sellout album, we didn't. If there were people in the car and Golden Country came on we would switch stations. We knew it was a great tune but because of the sellout album, we just couldn't be accepted if we listened to them anymore.
My sister tonite gave me a great label....."The Unacceptable Listener". I was telling her of the tale of our gathering last nite and she said that my wife is an "Unacceptable Listener". I was slightly confused. She told me that the first time she came to visit me in Chicagoland, my wife introduced her to "Disco Saturday Nite" on the radio. There was a radio station in town not long ago that used to play nothing but disco on Saturday nites. My wife used to blare that music all nite long. She said it loud and she said it proud!
My sister told me, "That's when I knew your wife was an Unacceptable Listener."
My wife is not afraid to listen to music that might be labeled "unacceptable". She listens to what makes her feel good. No matter what anyone else may think.
I know I have always been that way. I can think back to my Pablo Cruise album(I can't talk to you now because I'm at the bottom of the pool). But I wasn't always able to put it out there in the open.
We should all be "Unacceptable Listeners" when it comes to the music we love. Music fills our hearts and souls with that unexplainable yearning. Music tells the tale of our lives.
I can remember one of the first conversations I had with my wife. We talked about the music we liked. After melding our music tastes together, I knew I would marry her. It was a defining moment. It still is. Music is unexplainable, but it is a need. We need it. It is a way for us to express ourselves without expressing ourselves.
Sharing music with others is about the best feeling I ever feel.
Here is something we can all learn from my wife.....being an "Unacceptable Listener" is not something for which you should be ashamed.
By the way....Journey was my first concert.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Stem Cell-icious
Isn't it a typical situation. You start a website and within a week, the computer breaks down and you spend/waste an entire day on the phone with Tech Support geeks who confuse the crap out of you. Regardless, here we go for today.....
Even though I'm a day late, I must say the news of President Obama's signing of the bill to end the ban on stem cell research is a godsend. Especially to me and my family.
You see we have been burying people at an alarming rate in the last couple of years. Mainly due to a horrific disease that runs in my wife's family. It's called Ataxia and plain and simply it takes people away from us at way too early a date. Do me a favor and look it up. Support it's research in any way you can. Or just support those who are fighting it. Trust me it's not a pretty disease and those who are dealing with it are stronger people than I can ever wish to be.
A few years ago we were getting very positive feedback on not only a cure for Ataxia but a way to reverse the symptoms of those already inflicted (it is a crippling disease that takes its time destroying a person). Literally, those infected could get treatment and be back to their normal selves in no time.
The research break-throughs were due to stem cell testing. In the last few years we have been waiting for more news but none has come.
Yesterday, hope came back into the Ataxia situation. Thanks to Obama standing up to the opponents of research and progress, the future is brighter.
Personally, I don't quite get why anyone would want to stand in the way of progress. Isn't that what we've been doing for all these years as a society? And if someone tells me it's due to religious reasons I don't get that either.
As a catholic person basically my whole life I have been taught that my religion comes down to two basic principles....love God and love your neighbor. Isn't doing everything you can to cure people of their ailments loving your neighbor?
When my wife and I got pregnant we fertilized 11 embryos. They were grown for 3 days. On the third day they each were tested for the chromosone dificiency I have. Out of the 11, 2 didn't have it. Today, their names are Michael and Janie. Let me tell you if you haven't seen these little gifts from above, they are the greatest one-time embryos I have ever seen. The other 9 embyros were thrown in the garbage. If those embryos could have been tested to help research a cure for the people in my life and everyone elses who have died in the last 5 years, doesn't it make sense to use them?
Sure does to me.
I don't know about you, but with all that is going on in our society and our economy, to have a president who realizes if/when we get this all straightened out it sure would be nice if the people we love can be around to enjoy it.
Even though I'm a day late, I must say the news of President Obama's signing of the bill to end the ban on stem cell research is a godsend. Especially to me and my family.
You see we have been burying people at an alarming rate in the last couple of years. Mainly due to a horrific disease that runs in my wife's family. It's called Ataxia and plain and simply it takes people away from us at way too early a date. Do me a favor and look it up. Support it's research in any way you can. Or just support those who are fighting it. Trust me it's not a pretty disease and those who are dealing with it are stronger people than I can ever wish to be.
A few years ago we were getting very positive feedback on not only a cure for Ataxia but a way to reverse the symptoms of those already inflicted (it is a crippling disease that takes its time destroying a person). Literally, those infected could get treatment and be back to their normal selves in no time.
The research break-throughs were due to stem cell testing. In the last few years we have been waiting for more news but none has come.
Yesterday, hope came back into the Ataxia situation. Thanks to Obama standing up to the opponents of research and progress, the future is brighter.
Personally, I don't quite get why anyone would want to stand in the way of progress. Isn't that what we've been doing for all these years as a society? And if someone tells me it's due to religious reasons I don't get that either.
As a catholic person basically my whole life I have been taught that my religion comes down to two basic principles....love God and love your neighbor. Isn't doing everything you can to cure people of their ailments loving your neighbor?
When my wife and I got pregnant we fertilized 11 embryos. They were grown for 3 days. On the third day they each were tested for the chromosone dificiency I have. Out of the 11, 2 didn't have it. Today, their names are Michael and Janie. Let me tell you if you haven't seen these little gifts from above, they are the greatest one-time embryos I have ever seen. The other 9 embyros were thrown in the garbage. If those embryos could have been tested to help research a cure for the people in my life and everyone elses who have died in the last 5 years, doesn't it make sense to use them?
Sure does to me.
I don't know about you, but with all that is going on in our society and our economy, to have a president who realizes if/when we get this all straightened out it sure would be nice if the people we love can be around to enjoy it.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Turn Back the Clock
It's amazing what an hour will do. Life in Chicagoland is a bitch. We have the worst weather in the country. PERIOD. People to the east and west actually have a spring and fall. We have cold ass weather then too hot for comfort. We don't get a spring. It's ridiculous. People on the west coast get great weather all year. People in the south wish it would be 60 so they could be comfortable. 60? Suck me.
Don't get me wrong. I love the snow at Christmas time. It's beautiful. It brings the spirit of the season home. My wife prays for a white Christmas every year and she's an atheist!
Sure the snow at Christmas is nice but when it gets to be March....go the frick away! I've had enough.
I'm tired of being cold and angry. I want to be warm and merry!
Tonite we turned back the clocks. The first sign that spring is upon us. The weather reports tell us we are going to be in 30's this week.....F@#k You! Spring my ass. Don't give me a couple 60 degree days and then go back to the 30's. That's total bull!
Hey, when we were in the minus 10's.....30 degrees was great....it was like a heat wave. But not now. I got a couple of 60 degrees days now I'm in. Now 30 degrees sucks!
7 o'clock tonite it was lite out. I don't give a flying f@#k whether some stupid ground hog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow or not....give me some spring! If it's lite out at 7 o'clock....you best be giving me some decent weather.
As a person from the Chicagoland could only say......I'm so sick of winter, if spring doesn't get here soon I'm jumping off the nearest cliff.....no lie....test me....bitch.
Don't get me wrong. I love the snow at Christmas time. It's beautiful. It brings the spirit of the season home. My wife prays for a white Christmas every year and she's an atheist!
Sure the snow at Christmas is nice but when it gets to be March....go the frick away! I've had enough.
I'm tired of being cold and angry. I want to be warm and merry!
Tonite we turned back the clocks. The first sign that spring is upon us. The weather reports tell us we are going to be in 30's this week.....F@#k You! Spring my ass. Don't give me a couple 60 degree days and then go back to the 30's. That's total bull!
Hey, when we were in the minus 10's.....30 degrees was great....it was like a heat wave. But not now. I got a couple of 60 degrees days now I'm in. Now 30 degrees sucks!
7 o'clock tonite it was lite out. I don't give a flying f@#k whether some stupid ground hog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow or not....give me some spring! If it's lite out at 7 o'clock....you best be giving me some decent weather.
As a person from the Chicagoland could only say......I'm so sick of winter, if spring doesn't get here soon I'm jumping off the nearest cliff.....no lie....test me....bitch.
Friends are scary
Sorry about yesterday, I had too much happening at the house and not enough ideas to fulfill a quality posting. Weekends at our house are usually full of friends until late night. This is a good thing. My wife and I love the company and openly invite our friends to our home. One of our friends has been absent for the last couple of weeks. I have asked my wife, "what is up with Linda? We haven't seen her for some time." Linda is a great friend of ours and is a terrific person. My wife and I love her dearly. She's the kind of person you have known as an acquaintance from other friends but when you start talking with her you become instant friends because you have so much in common and you just....you know....connect.
After this realization about her, Linda has become a fixture at our house. She gets along with my children wonderfully and is just a good person to be around. She makes you feel good just by being in the same room.
She would come by even for a short while just to hug the kids or say hello or have dinner with us. The last two weeks she has been absent. I haven't seen her. I began to worry.
Often times because I am so emotionally outspoken, I have a tendency to drive people away. My friend Linda has had many conversations with me and is emotionally and intellectually equiped to handle me and my theories/opinions. Still I was worried I may have done or said something to push her away.
Come to find out, she has had a horrific two weeks of work and has been holed up in her condo working evenings to stay on top of her work duties. We got together tonite with my neighbor and had a great evening of food and fun....all is well.
But this brings me to my point....so many times we think the worst of our friends first. Instead of thinking that things in our friend's lives may be keeping them from us, we think they don't care. More times than not it is our own insecurities that are telling us that. Think about it....why are we friends in the first place? Because no matter what life may bring the both of us, I will still love you as my friend.
Insecurity is what makes us think the worst of people. In reality we should be thinking of the best.
I'm glad all is well with Linda....she makes me happy!
I feel bad that I was worried about my friendship with Linda but I also realize that it means alot to me that she is my friend. I will always give her the benefit of the doubt from here on out because she has earned it and deserves it.
After this realization about her, Linda has become a fixture at our house. She gets along with my children wonderfully and is just a good person to be around. She makes you feel good just by being in the same room.
She would come by even for a short while just to hug the kids or say hello or have dinner with us. The last two weeks she has been absent. I haven't seen her. I began to worry.
Often times because I am so emotionally outspoken, I have a tendency to drive people away. My friend Linda has had many conversations with me and is emotionally and intellectually equiped to handle me and my theories/opinions. Still I was worried I may have done or said something to push her away.
Come to find out, she has had a horrific two weeks of work and has been holed up in her condo working evenings to stay on top of her work duties. We got together tonite with my neighbor and had a great evening of food and fun....all is well.
But this brings me to my point....so many times we think the worst of our friends first. Instead of thinking that things in our friend's lives may be keeping them from us, we think they don't care. More times than not it is our own insecurities that are telling us that. Think about it....why are we friends in the first place? Because no matter what life may bring the both of us, I will still love you as my friend.
Insecurity is what makes us think the worst of people. In reality we should be thinking of the best.
I'm glad all is well with Linda....she makes me happy!
I feel bad that I was worried about my friendship with Linda but I also realize that it means alot to me that she is my friend. I will always give her the benefit of the doubt from here on out because she has earned it and deserves it.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Men and Women in the 21st Century
I've got to go back to the Facebook thing. I got to talk to one of my best friends in the world tonite. I haven't connected with him in longer than I would like to admit. I remember him standing up in my wedding, traveling all the way from Michigan to be a part of my marriage ceremony. It was as important to him as it was to me. Of course he didn't have to live with her for all these years, but that's another story. As I chatted with my friend Jeff, he told me of his divorce and the pain that he has suffered through. Sucks. That's all I can summon. It just sucks. Jeff loved his wife. He probably still does although that will go away with time and I think he knows that. Noone tried harder to make life happy with his wife. I know that because I know my friend. The problem is society. It always is.
We today are suffering the pains of the past. 30 years ago, our fathers treated their women with no heart at all. They felt if they brought home the bacon and provided finacially for the family, that was the end of it. They struggled with loving their spouses. That's what they knew. That's what their parents taught them. Providing was what they were brought up on. Loving was something that was understood through the money. It still amazes me how men/fathers back in the day when I was young didn't think they had to do anything more than bring enough money into the family to be loved. I spent over 25 years of my life trying to get my father to notice me. I tried to get him to notice that spending time with me playing catch was more important to me than the money he brought home to keep our family going. I never realized the pressure that he was under. If he lost his job, we were screwed. I promised my son today we would play catch and we didn't. After going to the woods, our next door neighbor's son came over and they got to playing. At about 6 o'clock I realized we didn't get to play catch. It really is tough being a dad. I try so hard but sometimes I fall short.
Today, being a dad is dealing with the fact you always feel like you are failing. I always feel like I'm not doing a good enough job. I always feel like I've let him down some way. Maybe it's because I always felt my dad didn't have enough time for me growing up. But given the proper thought, he was dealing with all the work stress as well as dealing with the fact that me, my mom and my three sisters were relying on him to keep us happy.
When I think about it today, I know there were probably many times my dad wanted to tell his boss that he was an arrogant piece of garbage who had to check with corporate every time he had to take a piss, but he didn't because of us. I give him the pass on skipping our catch sessions every once in while. Don't get me wrong, we played catch but not as much as I would've liked as a kid growing up.
Alot of men back then had mistresses. I'm not sure if it was to get something different in the sack than what they were getting at home from their wives or it was just some way to vent stress. Whatever the reason, they had relationships outside of their marriages.
It seems to me today's men are paying for the ways of our forefathers. Women seem to be the ones who have the affairs. Men may stray but it's more than likely some drunken roll in the hay that only lasts for that moment. Women are the ones who have relationships with others outside the marriage. I have a friend who got divorced because he was getting his roof fixed and he came home early one day and found his wife in bed with the roofer! That's messed up. I can tell you he hasn't been the same since.
Marriage relationships are so different than they were 30 years ago. The women's movement fought against the men who were treating their women like submissive yes-women. In reality, it was an open decision by most. Society brought us into a new reality.
Personally, I'm glad women have the freedom and self-image strength to be who they are today. If you notice though, men have less freedom and self-image than ever before.
It seems that men today are paying the debt that our forefathers loaned out. I guarantee more men say, "I'm sorry" today than they did 30 years ago. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it would be nice to think that women say, "I'm sorry" the same amount of times, but it just isn't so.
The men of the 21st century will pay the dues for the men of the 50's, 60's and 70's for time to come.
I think we're fine with it. If women want to know us better they should grasp the concept.
Side Note.....I'm sure my wife would be pissed at this blog, but she knows I've been writing it all week and she still hasn't read it. I'm sure the only way she'll read this one is if someone points it out to her. But it doesn't really bother me, because I love her for who she is and reading my shit isn't it.
We today are suffering the pains of the past. 30 years ago, our fathers treated their women with no heart at all. They felt if they brought home the bacon and provided finacially for the family, that was the end of it. They struggled with loving their spouses. That's what they knew. That's what their parents taught them. Providing was what they were brought up on. Loving was something that was understood through the money. It still amazes me how men/fathers back in the day when I was young didn't think they had to do anything more than bring enough money into the family to be loved. I spent over 25 years of my life trying to get my father to notice me. I tried to get him to notice that spending time with me playing catch was more important to me than the money he brought home to keep our family going. I never realized the pressure that he was under. If he lost his job, we were screwed. I promised my son today we would play catch and we didn't. After going to the woods, our next door neighbor's son came over and they got to playing. At about 6 o'clock I realized we didn't get to play catch. It really is tough being a dad. I try so hard but sometimes I fall short.
Today, being a dad is dealing with the fact you always feel like you are failing. I always feel like I'm not doing a good enough job. I always feel like I've let him down some way. Maybe it's because I always felt my dad didn't have enough time for me growing up. But given the proper thought, he was dealing with all the work stress as well as dealing with the fact that me, my mom and my three sisters were relying on him to keep us happy.
When I think about it today, I know there were probably many times my dad wanted to tell his boss that he was an arrogant piece of garbage who had to check with corporate every time he had to take a piss, but he didn't because of us. I give him the pass on skipping our catch sessions every once in while. Don't get me wrong, we played catch but not as much as I would've liked as a kid growing up.
Alot of men back then had mistresses. I'm not sure if it was to get something different in the sack than what they were getting at home from their wives or it was just some way to vent stress. Whatever the reason, they had relationships outside of their marriages.
It seems to me today's men are paying for the ways of our forefathers. Women seem to be the ones who have the affairs. Men may stray but it's more than likely some drunken roll in the hay that only lasts for that moment. Women are the ones who have relationships with others outside the marriage. I have a friend who got divorced because he was getting his roof fixed and he came home early one day and found his wife in bed with the roofer! That's messed up. I can tell you he hasn't been the same since.
Marriage relationships are so different than they were 30 years ago. The women's movement fought against the men who were treating their women like submissive yes-women. In reality, it was an open decision by most. Society brought us into a new reality.
Personally, I'm glad women have the freedom and self-image strength to be who they are today. If you notice though, men have less freedom and self-image than ever before.
It seems that men today are paying the debt that our forefathers loaned out. I guarantee more men say, "I'm sorry" today than they did 30 years ago. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it would be nice to think that women say, "I'm sorry" the same amount of times, but it just isn't so.
The men of the 21st century will pay the dues for the men of the 50's, 60's and 70's for time to come.
I think we're fine with it. If women want to know us better they should grasp the concept.
Side Note.....I'm sure my wife would be pissed at this blog, but she knows I've been writing it all week and she still hasn't read it. I'm sure the only way she'll read this one is if someone points it out to her. But it doesn't really bother me, because I love her for who she is and reading my shit isn't it.
Bye Bye T.O.
I keep thinking about Terrell Owens. Is it his fault the media circus that surrounds him and his every word make him feel as if he is bigger than the game? Is it just because he's an idiot with a lot of talent? Is it because he is so arrogant he feels he is invincible and need not follow rules or listen to coaches? What I do know is he out of a job. From what the experts(?) say, it looks like Oakland and Al Davis is a likely match. Yeah, right...match made in hell. Let's see how he reacts to playing for a garbage team instead of the winning teams he is used to playing with. Playing for the Raiders shut Randy Moss up, let's see what happens with Owens.
The Cowboys lost money on the deal too. They literally paid Owens to go away. Millions of dollars. Jerry Jones felt the team would be better off not having a hall of fame caliber wide receiver on the field. If you pause and give that thought, it is amazing. Owens was such a distraction, such an ego maniac that his team just wanted him to dissappear. I wonder if Owens has given this any thought.
If you were to peruse the Cowboys offensive stats last year you would find that the offense revolved around Owens. With the talent they possess on the offensive side of the ball, focusing on a 35 year old wide receiver on the decline talentwise is a huge mistake. This team has one of the best running backs, one of the best quarterbacks and one of the best tight ends in the league.
Even so, when things weren't going well offensively, Owens would pout on the sidelines and scream at coaches. I wonder what the tape sessions on Mondays were like? The tape never lies.
I guess the thing that blows me away is someone will pay a ton of money to get this pain in the ass on their team. Owens knows it. His cocky comments on his website are enough to tell all of us this. He's excited for next season. Someone will sign him and he'll promise to be good. But whenever a guy like him plays well the mouth gets in gear. Think about it, we didn't hear spit from Chad Johnson last year as he suffered through a painful season.
Every sport needs characters and the NFL has their share.
I think the thing I'm having the biggest struggle with through this Owens saga today is that I can't believe I actually agree with a move Jerry Jones made!
The Cowboys lost money on the deal too. They literally paid Owens to go away. Millions of dollars. Jerry Jones felt the team would be better off not having a hall of fame caliber wide receiver on the field. If you pause and give that thought, it is amazing. Owens was such a distraction, such an ego maniac that his team just wanted him to dissappear. I wonder if Owens has given this any thought.
If you were to peruse the Cowboys offensive stats last year you would find that the offense revolved around Owens. With the talent they possess on the offensive side of the ball, focusing on a 35 year old wide receiver on the decline talentwise is a huge mistake. This team has one of the best running backs, one of the best quarterbacks and one of the best tight ends in the league.
Even so, when things weren't going well offensively, Owens would pout on the sidelines and scream at coaches. I wonder what the tape sessions on Mondays were like? The tape never lies.
I guess the thing that blows me away is someone will pay a ton of money to get this pain in the ass on their team. Owens knows it. His cocky comments on his website are enough to tell all of us this. He's excited for next season. Someone will sign him and he'll promise to be good. But whenever a guy like him plays well the mouth gets in gear. Think about it, we didn't hear spit from Chad Johnson last year as he suffered through a painful season.
Every sport needs characters and the NFL has their share.
I think the thing I'm having the biggest struggle with through this Owens saga today is that I can't believe I actually agree with a move Jerry Jones made!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Why Rush Fuss?
I just don't get it. But then again maybe I should. Radio is a completely different world than the one we all know. It truly must be experienced to be understood. I was a theatre major in college and one of the problems I found with all the students in "theatre world" was that if you were any good, you were a good liar. Think about it, actors are nothing more than terrific liars. They become and portray a completely different person. Their sole effort is to make you, the audience believe they are someone other than themselves. As an actor you can get so good at it you can use it to your advantage. The problem lies in deciphoring the truth from the lies. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Having to talk into a microphone for 4 straight hours is a daunting task to say the least. You must have an endless supply of energy and a solid script. If not, noone will listen. As a producer and programmer one of the most difficult tasks was to get through to the talent that what they, the talent wanted to talk about was not what was most beneficial to them or their ratings(let alone the radio station).
Get this straight...entertainers are liars....no matter how much you relate to them or believe in what they are saying, they are meerly playing a part. A part in which you will become attached.
I'm not saying that entertainers are bad people. I'm saying they are doing their job. Their job is to get you hooked. Get you to stay with them throught the onslaught of commercials and money making schemes that hover around every broadcast you view or hear. The good ones understand the people and use it to their advantage.
I have never met a radio personality who was the same person in the hallway that he or she was on the air. It just simply isn't possible. Noone could carry the same amount of energy it takes to perform a radio show into their normal life, noone would be able to stand...let alone keep it up for 24/7.
I also have never met a good radio personality who wasn't insecure. They fret about whether listeners like them at all times of the day. It is what they live for. To be loved. The insecurity is what fuels them to perform day in and day out at a level that is
acceptable to their fragile existance.
I just don't get it. But then again maybe I should. Radio is a completely different world than the one we all know. It truly must be experienced to be understood. I was a theatre major in college and one of the problems I found with all the students in the "theatre world" was that if you were any good, you were a great liar. Think about it, actors are nothing more than terrific liars. They become and portray a completely different person. Their sole effort is to make you, the audience believe they are someone other than themselves. As an actor you can get so good at it you can use it to your advantage. The problem lies in deciphering the truth from the lies. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Having to talk into a microphone for 4 straight hours is a daunting task to say the least. You must have an endless supply of energy and a solid script. If not, noone will listen. As a producer and programmer one of the most difficult tasks was to get through to the talent that what they, the talent wanted to talk about was not what was most beneficial to them or their ratings(let alone the radio station).
Get this straight...entertainers are liars....no matter how much you relate to them or believe in what they are saying, they are meerly playing a part. A part in which you will become attached.
I'm not saying that entertainers are bad people. I'm saying they are doing their job. Their job is to get you hooked. Get you to stay with them throught the onslaught of commercials and money making schemes that hover around every broadcast you view or hear. The good ones understand the people and use it to their advantage.
I have never met a radio personality who was the same person in the hallway that he or she was on the air. It just simply isn't possible. Noone could carry the same amount of energy it takes to perform a radio show into their normal life, noone would be able to stand it...let alone keep it up for 24/7.
I also have never met a good radio personality who wasn't insecure. They fret about whether listeners like them at all times of the day. It is what they live for. To be loved. The insecurity is what fuels them to perform day in and day out at a level that is acceptable to their fragile existance.
Now that you have the proper backround it is time to take Limbaugh in perspective. He doesn't care about our country. He doesn't care about what is best for you or me or anyone in the country....all he cares about is ratings. He could be a guy who has voted for a democrat for president his whole life for all we know. Because really...we don't know. This is a radio personality. All he cares about is ratings. It has nothing to do with right or wrong. It has nothing to do about what the American people feel. This is meerly a sophomoric television wanna-be. Most radio people are. The fact that Republicans listen to the garbage this man spews and believe it make them similar to evangilists who spew whatever it is they spew.
The problem lies in the fact that President Obama and the like give this radio icon his due...he has no due. He only cares about ratings. If he didn't he would be like every other radio personality wondering "what went wrong?". Limbaugh preps for his show every day and says to his producers, "what will bring us ratings today?" He certainly does't ask, "what will be the best for the country today". Get a grip
Everyone needs to stop thinking that this wind bag on the radio cares about anything more than his paycheck. All of us who have spent time in the radio business know that the most important object to the people in control is their paycheck.
The worst thing anyone could do is give this guy attention. Stop listening....you are pawns. Stop thinking he is a voice of anything other than his own wants/needs. Start thinking for yourself. Even if you agree with him, it's fine...just don't come up with the idea because he told you to.
Remember. Radio personalities don't give a shit about you. All they care about is that you listen, buy their products and follow them to the promised land.
In radio one rule holds true...."always protect your paycheck".....that's what Limbaugh is doing...and his check is pretty big!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The First TommyBlog.....OMG!!
Check this out....my own blog-site. I know you're saying, "it's about time". Well with the pushing of my friend Rick, I have finally made the plunge into blog-dom. I must say it feels wierd and quite frankly I have no idea how it will look. I'm sure at some point I will put up some links and such for you all to check out. Until that time, I will use this arena to spew my thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, I am glad you took the time to check it out. Let's see if I can make it worth your while.....let alone mine.
My first thought is about Facebook. Wow, what a freak show that is. I just figured out some of the ins and outs of it and I can't believe how trippy it is. In just two days I have talked to people from my past of 25 years! My friend Ted had pictures of me from the early 80's on his....whatever it is you have on Facebook. I only found out about this because when I logged on last nite, my best friend in the world, Billy who lives in Michigan was online of the Facebook and told me to look it up.
I didn't know what I was doing being a newbie to Facebook, but Billy walked me through it via Facebook's IM system. I must admit it was friggin awesome. In the last 36 hours I have talked via the Facebook system to some people I haven't even thought about for years! Not only that, but I was connected to people I worked with in previous years that were very close to me. If you give it some thought....people you work with are people you spend time with for at the very least 40 hours a week. How many hours a week do you spend with your spouse a week? What happens when you leave a job? You leave all those people behind, like they never meant anything to you during the time you spent at that job. And they do the same. It's messed up.
I had a close friend in college. We were the closest of friends for two years. As the time was coming close that we were going to go separate ways due to graduation(or just leaving school because the funds from Pop ran out as was my case) he said to me, "its been fun, but I'm sure we'll never see each other again....that's the way it is with friends...they come and go". I've never talked with him since. I hope I find him on Facebook because we were so close. I'm pissed at him because he was right.
I sometimes think of all the friends I've had like him(his name was Phil) through the workplace. You spend so much time with the people you work with. You are forced into being teammates. You do everything you can to do your best and not hate your job. You are put into a situation where you must rely on people you don't even know or barely trust, but you have to work together.
If you think about it, that is the kind of people you choose to have as your friends. But when the work ends, so does the friendship, the comaraderie and the bond that was built from working together for at least 40 hours a week. Our friends from high school and college could screw us over and we would forgive them in a second, but when it comes to the people you work with the screwing over could mess up your life for years.
I remember being pissed at my good friend Bobby for something I couldn't even dream of remembering today.......I confided in my friend Billy....I said Bobby really screwed me over and Billy said, "Tommy, if you can't shit on your friends who can you shit on?" Sometimes the meaning of being a friend is being there to be shit on. Everyone needs to shit on someone now and again. I remember thinking...I hate it, but he's right.
At work it doesn't work that way. There's money involved. Workmates may love you, but ultimately they are working for dollars. If you lose your job, they will most likely move up on the pay scale. After all, if a spot is eliminated everyone has a chance to move up. Especially in the payscale world. It's horrible that I think that way, but it's true. Sometimes I wish it wasn't true but I know it is.
The bottom line is this....no matter how much you care about someone you work with...no matter how much you do to help them with their career....when it comes down to you or them they will always choose them....it's the way of the world. Your true friends are those who have nothing to win or lose by being your friend and they still are.....Billy and Bobby are my boys!!
This is the first installment of many more to come....check back every day....I have way too much to spew! I will be writing on this site every day.
Peace,
Tommy
My first thought is about Facebook. Wow, what a freak show that is. I just figured out some of the ins and outs of it and I can't believe how trippy it is. In just two days I have talked to people from my past of 25 years! My friend Ted had pictures of me from the early 80's on his....whatever it is you have on Facebook. I only found out about this because when I logged on last nite, my best friend in the world, Billy who lives in Michigan was online of the Facebook and told me to look it up.
I didn't know what I was doing being a newbie to Facebook, but Billy walked me through it via Facebook's IM system. I must admit it was friggin awesome. In the last 36 hours I have talked via the Facebook system to some people I haven't even thought about for years! Not only that, but I was connected to people I worked with in previous years that were very close to me. If you give it some thought....people you work with are people you spend time with for at the very least 40 hours a week. How many hours a week do you spend with your spouse a week? What happens when you leave a job? You leave all those people behind, like they never meant anything to you during the time you spent at that job. And they do the same. It's messed up.
I had a close friend in college. We were the closest of friends for two years. As the time was coming close that we were going to go separate ways due to graduation(or just leaving school because the funds from Pop ran out as was my case) he said to me, "its been fun, but I'm sure we'll never see each other again....that's the way it is with friends...they come and go". I've never talked with him since. I hope I find him on Facebook because we were so close. I'm pissed at him because he was right.
I sometimes think of all the friends I've had like him(his name was Phil) through the workplace. You spend so much time with the people you work with. You are forced into being teammates. You do everything you can to do your best and not hate your job. You are put into a situation where you must rely on people you don't even know or barely trust, but you have to work together.
If you think about it, that is the kind of people you choose to have as your friends. But when the work ends, so does the friendship, the comaraderie and the bond that was built from working together for at least 40 hours a week. Our friends from high school and college could screw us over and we would forgive them in a second, but when it comes to the people you work with the screwing over could mess up your life for years.
I remember being pissed at my good friend Bobby for something I couldn't even dream of remembering today.......I confided in my friend Billy....I said Bobby really screwed me over and Billy said, "Tommy, if you can't shit on your friends who can you shit on?" Sometimes the meaning of being a friend is being there to be shit on. Everyone needs to shit on someone now and again. I remember thinking...I hate it, but he's right.
At work it doesn't work that way. There's money involved. Workmates may love you, but ultimately they are working for dollars. If you lose your job, they will most likely move up on the pay scale. After all, if a spot is eliminated everyone has a chance to move up. Especially in the payscale world. It's horrible that I think that way, but it's true. Sometimes I wish it wasn't true but I know it is.
The bottom line is this....no matter how much you care about someone you work with...no matter how much you do to help them with their career....when it comes down to you or them they will always choose them....it's the way of the world. Your true friends are those who have nothing to win or lose by being your friend and they still are.....Billy and Bobby are my boys!!
This is the first installment of many more to come....check back every day....I have way too much to spew! I will be writing on this site every day.
Peace,
Tommy
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