1) The Freddie Mercury Google doodle is awesome. I shouldn't complain about it, because it was really, really cool. But I've played with it a lot the last two days and I guess my one complaint is I'll have "Don't Stop Me Now" stuck in my head for at least a week.
2) For a 'staycation' this was pretty good.
I had three physical therapy visits, which helped tremendously even though they were pure torture. A few more weeks, plus lots of assigned homework in the form of self-torture.
Also two rounds of golf, two 90's on the scorecard. My last four rounds are now 89, 90,90,90. I guess that's consistency. Those scores are a minor miracle for a guy who drives the ball 190 yards and putts poorly. I'm straight as an arrow from tee to green, but I have no distance and I don't putt well when I arrive. Next spring's goal: add approximately 25 yards distance to every club. That sounds like a lot, but it would actually still leave me about 10 yards short of where I was 5 years ago.
Rest of vacation? Softball games, nights out, housework, reading. Fun stuff.
We've been struggling to score runs for quite a while, then tonight we scored 21 in the first inning. I guess we needed the 55 degree, rainy weather in order to heat up. I've been batting at the bottom of the order to minimize my plate appearances since I'm hurting, but I still went 2 for 2 in the first inning. Our leadoff hitter doubled, singled, and homered- all in the first inning. When the inning ended he was 5 batters away from a chance to hit for the cycle in the first inning.
Three more weeks to season's end. As usual this time of year, I'm still enjoying playing but also looking forward to the end.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Beer!
Overall, beer is a pretty good thing. I'm pretty sure of that. So I'll write a post that features beer.
I won't focus on different brands and styles and whatnot; I like pretty much all beer. My favorite depends on my mood, what I'm eating, the weather, who is buying, etc., none of which matters much. Oh, except for that last one.
Who is buying? That one has been on my mind a lot lately after softball games. My post-game beer economics have changed dramatically. I'm now paying some long-owed dues in that regard.
Years ago, as a 25-year-old new member of the team, and for quite a few years after, I made out pretty well in the post-game beer economy. I pitched in a minimal amount of money on the first go-round, made minimal contributions afterward, and consistently received good returns on my investment.
The last couple of years, however, as our older players have retired and I have assumed their role, I've noticed a substantial drop in my rate of beers-per-dollars. Where I used to be a hanger-on, benefiting from the "you want one more? I'm buying" question, I now seem to be the donor in these scenarios.
It's not like I NEED the beer. The situation just seems to unfold so that 4 or 5 guys are there late, not really wanting to leave yet, but needing a reason to stay. One more beer to be nursed for half-hour or 45 minutes will do the trick. But where I used to just have to answer "sure, I guess I can stay for another" I now just wait in vain for the question. And I end up asking the question myself and shelling out several bucks for all the other hangers-on.
Retribution, I guess, for my past freeloading. And sympathy for these young kids without my vast resources of hundreds and hundreds of Mexican pesos, which I've hidden in holes throughout the metro Louisville area.
Beer Part II: The Dark Side
For five weeks now I've had very little exercise. I play 3 or 4 softball games a week, but that just really isn't exercise. Knne pain and a quad strain have kept me off my bike and I don't really do much else.
And I've ballooned 10 pounds in 5 weeks. After having lost 15 pounds over the winter, gaining an acceptable 3 back over 3 months of softball/golf/hot dogs/beer/soft pretzels, I'm now right back where I was last September.
It is all very depressing because at right this moment I can't get any exercise that comes easy to me. I really like riding my bike- it's convenient, I can do it even when it's raining or 98 degrees, I can watch TV or video or even read while riding.
Without my bike I've been pretty much sedentary and yet eating and drinking the same things. If I can't start riding it again soon (without major pain) I might have to do something drastic, like change my eating habits.
I really don't want to do that.
I won't focus on different brands and styles and whatnot; I like pretty much all beer. My favorite depends on my mood, what I'm eating, the weather, who is buying, etc., none of which matters much. Oh, except for that last one.
Who is buying? That one has been on my mind a lot lately after softball games. My post-game beer economics have changed dramatically. I'm now paying some long-owed dues in that regard.
Years ago, as a 25-year-old new member of the team, and for quite a few years after, I made out pretty well in the post-game beer economy. I pitched in a minimal amount of money on the first go-round, made minimal contributions afterward, and consistently received good returns on my investment.
The last couple of years, however, as our older players have retired and I have assumed their role, I've noticed a substantial drop in my rate of beers-per-dollars. Where I used to be a hanger-on, benefiting from the "you want one more? I'm buying" question, I now seem to be the donor in these scenarios.
It's not like I NEED the beer. The situation just seems to unfold so that 4 or 5 guys are there late, not really wanting to leave yet, but needing a reason to stay. One more beer to be nursed for half-hour or 45 minutes will do the trick. But where I used to just have to answer "sure, I guess I can stay for another" I now just wait in vain for the question. And I end up asking the question myself and shelling out several bucks for all the other hangers-on.
Retribution, I guess, for my past freeloading. And sympathy for these young kids without my vast resources of hundreds and hundreds of Mexican pesos, which I've hidden in holes throughout the metro Louisville area.
Beer Part II: The Dark Side
For five weeks now I've had very little exercise. I play 3 or 4 softball games a week, but that just really isn't exercise. Knne pain and a quad strain have kept me off my bike and I don't really do much else.
And I've ballooned 10 pounds in 5 weeks. After having lost 15 pounds over the winter, gaining an acceptable 3 back over 3 months of softball/golf/hot dogs/beer/soft pretzels, I'm now right back where I was last September.
It is all very depressing because at right this moment I can't get any exercise that comes easy to me. I really like riding my bike- it's convenient, I can do it even when it's raining or 98 degrees, I can watch TV or video or even read while riding.
Without my bike I've been pretty much sedentary and yet eating and drinking the same things. If I can't start riding it again soon (without major pain) I might have to do something drastic, like change my eating habits.
I really don't want to do that.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
No one has chosen to tattoo their self with any of my creations, at least not as far as I know, so my goings on are not as interesting as Mark's. I'll make do with a brief update anyway.
Started fall league tonight with a loss. After our game last night I said I would only be in the lineup in this St. Helen's league when we needed me to have enough players. But we had enough without me and I batted anyway. And now I've pretty much decided I need to be on the field. What the heck, it's only 5 weeks. I'll have all winter to stop hurting.
It's more painful to watch other people try to play my position than it is to play it myself.
I have a week's vacation coming soon. I scheduled a physical therapy appointment for the 1st day of vacaction, and I expect I might try and have two more during my time off. I'm hoping to learn some strengthening exercises for whatever might be strengthened around my knee that could help. I also have a quad strain that needs to be healed so that I can get on my exercise bike, since cycling is supposedly good for my knee but I can't really do it right now.
Our annual pool party/golf scramble weekend was fun, though I spent most of my time losing at cornhole and then losing at golf.
Billy and I are playing in St. Martha's fall cornhole league. It starts in a couple of weeks. Should be fun. Playing with a firefighter means I'll need to find a sub a third of the time, though. I might call my younger brother at times- at least on weeks that don't conflict with whatever he has going on in September. I can't think of anything he's doing that month, though.
_________________________________________________
I've finally made a good dent in "The Satanic Verses." Wanted to read it for years, received it as a gift many months ago, and started it several times. I finally got into it. It's pretty good- seems sort of like an English/Indian, post-colonial, Thatcher-era "One Hundred Years of Solitude," except not as good.
'Not as good' sound like an insult, but I don't intend it as such. It's very good, but very few books are as good as "One Hundred Years of Solitude."
_____________________________________________________
Until recently I was watching a lot of "30 Rock" on DVD. I bought 4 seasons- a couple at used stores, a couple at Blockbuster's closeout sale, and I was breezing through them very quickly. Very, very funny, and I didn't realize until I started on the DVDs that there were a lot of episodes I hadn't seen.
But since I haven't been on my bike I haven't been watching much of anything.
Started fall league tonight with a loss. After our game last night I said I would only be in the lineup in this St. Helen's league when we needed me to have enough players. But we had enough without me and I batted anyway. And now I've pretty much decided I need to be on the field. What the heck, it's only 5 weeks. I'll have all winter to stop hurting.
It's more painful to watch other people try to play my position than it is to play it myself.
I have a week's vacation coming soon. I scheduled a physical therapy appointment for the 1st day of vacaction, and I expect I might try and have two more during my time off. I'm hoping to learn some strengthening exercises for whatever might be strengthened around my knee that could help. I also have a quad strain that needs to be healed so that I can get on my exercise bike, since cycling is supposedly good for my knee but I can't really do it right now.
Our annual pool party/golf scramble weekend was fun, though I spent most of my time losing at cornhole and then losing at golf.
Billy and I are playing in St. Martha's fall cornhole league. It starts in a couple of weeks. Should be fun. Playing with a firefighter means I'll need to find a sub a third of the time, though. I might call my younger brother at times- at least on weeks that don't conflict with whatever he has going on in September. I can't think of anything he's doing that month, though.
_________________________________________________
I've finally made a good dent in "The Satanic Verses." Wanted to read it for years, received it as a gift many months ago, and started it several times. I finally got into it. It's pretty good- seems sort of like an English/Indian, post-colonial, Thatcher-era "One Hundred Years of Solitude," except not as good.
'Not as good' sound like an insult, but I don't intend it as such. It's very good, but very few books are as good as "One Hundred Years of Solitude."
_____________________________________________________
Until recently I was watching a lot of "30 Rock" on DVD. I bought 4 seasons- a couple at used stores, a couple at Blockbuster's closeout sale, and I was breezing through them very quickly. Very, very funny, and I didn't realize until I started on the DVDs that there were a lot of episodes I hadn't seen.
But since I haven't been on my bike I haven't been watching much of anything.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Lost 2 straight tonight. As winners' bracket champs we were in great shape; win once and we win the tournament. But we got beat twice in a row.
Lack of offense was by far our biggest problem. I busted out of a slump by going 4 for 5 over two games, but I only reached 2nd base once. Complete lack of team hitting.
I was happy with my defense. Our opponent had a fast little leadoff hitter who relies on left side ground balls almost entirely. He's speedy and over the last 5+ years I've seen him get lots and lots of infield hits. But tonight he grounded to me 6 times and reached base on only one- I bobbled it for about a second and that was enough.
So I played pretty good. We stunk as a team, though. It's a lot more fun to complain about my own bad play after a win than it is to have the whole team moping after two straight ugly losses.
Two more Monday nights and 10 fall games and I'm done for the year. I've never looked forward to the off-season more. I need it.
__________________________
Batting slumps drive me nuts. Every time I'm in one it baffles me. And every time I get out of it- eventually- it's because I realize I'm doing some very basic thing wrong. Sometimes I realize I'm not really, really concentrating on seeing the ball as I hit it. Sometimes I'm just jumping out at the ball way too early. Sometimes I'm trying to force hits in a certain direction.
After a bad game or two I think about it and try to diagnose what I'm doing wrong, but sometimes it takes weeks before I figure it out, even though it's a simple problem.
This time I realized I wasn't swinging hard. How much more basic can you get? I was trying to aim hits into locations and neglecting to swing the bat like I meant it.
I've had a great year, but after three bad weeks I finally realized that very simple thing. So tonight I put zero emphasis on where the ball went, and concentrated completely on swinging the bat hard. The result was 4 hits that really zipped, and one hard line drive out. Duh! Simple stuff.
Lack of offense was by far our biggest problem. I busted out of a slump by going 4 for 5 over two games, but I only reached 2nd base once. Complete lack of team hitting.
I was happy with my defense. Our opponent had a fast little leadoff hitter who relies on left side ground balls almost entirely. He's speedy and over the last 5+ years I've seen him get lots and lots of infield hits. But tonight he grounded to me 6 times and reached base on only one- I bobbled it for about a second and that was enough.
So I played pretty good. We stunk as a team, though. It's a lot more fun to complain about my own bad play after a win than it is to have the whole team moping after two straight ugly losses.
Two more Monday nights and 10 fall games and I'm done for the year. I've never looked forward to the off-season more. I need it.
__________________________
Batting slumps drive me nuts. Every time I'm in one it baffles me. And every time I get out of it- eventually- it's because I realize I'm doing some very basic thing wrong. Sometimes I realize I'm not really, really concentrating on seeing the ball as I hit it. Sometimes I'm just jumping out at the ball way too early. Sometimes I'm trying to force hits in a certain direction.
After a bad game or two I think about it and try to diagnose what I'm doing wrong, but sometimes it takes weeks before I figure it out, even though it's a simple problem.
This time I realized I wasn't swinging hard. How much more basic can you get? I was trying to aim hits into locations and neglecting to swing the bat like I meant it.
I've had a great year, but after three bad weeks I finally realized that very simple thing. So tonight I put zero emphasis on where the ball went, and concentrated completely on swinging the bat hard. The result was 4 hits that really zipped, and one hard line drive out. Duh! Simple stuff.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
One Last Health Update
I don't intend to bring this up much again, mostly because the synopsis seems to be that my knee is always going to hurt and there isn't much I can do about it. However, since I've brought it up recently I might as well provide all the info.
Options for my knee are severely limited, at least until I need knee replacement. I have very bad arthritis, the bone is nearly exposed, and I can pretty much just take anti-inflammatories, infrequent cortisone shots, and do some exercises.
I still don't really understand why it started hurting so badly so quickly. I've had pain in that knee for a long time, off and on, but it's been generally milder pain, nothing as severe or as consistent as I currently have. Apparently it can just flare up like that very quickly, but it still surprises me.
If I'd paid more attention to all Dad's grimaces of pain over the years it wouldn't have been so surprising.
Today my doctor asked if the current anti-inflammatory was helping. The knee was still swollen, so there was no obvious improvement. I said "well honestly, I've played 7 softball games and a round of golf in the 12 days since my last visit, so I really have no idea. I think it might be helping, because it hasn't gotten any worse."
She seemed fine with that answer. Good for her.
____________________________________________________
I plan on spending Tuesday night at St. Martha to watch the end of the cornhole tournament. All 4 Yogis teams are still in it. I'm pulling for Sam and Chris, who finished in 2nd place. If they win out through the rest of the tournament they'll finish the year with 1 loss- which came on the night I subbed against them. That would be pretty cool.
____________________________________________________
Oh yeah, one more thing since I mentioned the round of golf. Round 5 on the year was an 89 at Glenmary Saturday. First round under 90 in 4 years. 48-41, and I screwed up a bit the last two holes to shoot the 41. Very encouraging.
Options for my knee are severely limited, at least until I need knee replacement. I have very bad arthritis, the bone is nearly exposed, and I can pretty much just take anti-inflammatories, infrequent cortisone shots, and do some exercises.
I still don't really understand why it started hurting so badly so quickly. I've had pain in that knee for a long time, off and on, but it's been generally milder pain, nothing as severe or as consistent as I currently have. Apparently it can just flare up like that very quickly, but it still surprises me.
If I'd paid more attention to all Dad's grimaces of pain over the years it wouldn't have been so surprising.
Today my doctor asked if the current anti-inflammatory was helping. The knee was still swollen, so there was no obvious improvement. I said "well honestly, I've played 7 softball games and a round of golf in the 12 days since my last visit, so I really have no idea. I think it might be helping, because it hasn't gotten any worse."
She seemed fine with that answer. Good for her.
____________________________________________________
I plan on spending Tuesday night at St. Martha to watch the end of the cornhole tournament. All 4 Yogis teams are still in it. I'm pulling for Sam and Chris, who finished in 2nd place. If they win out through the rest of the tournament they'll finish the year with 1 loss- which came on the night I subbed against them. That would be pretty cool.
____________________________________________________
Oh yeah, one more thing since I mentioned the round of golf. Round 5 on the year was an 89 at Glenmary Saturday. First round under 90 in 4 years. 48-41, and I screwed up a bit the last two holes to shoot the 41. Very encouraging.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
CHAMPS!
I wrote my storm post early Sunday morning but couldn't get it to publish. So I'll add this to the front and push the storm stuff to the bottom.
Champs! We beat the home team twice tonight to win the Sunday league tournament. After a 1 and 6 start to the season I doubted our wisdom regarding entering a team in this league. But six straight wins to end the year- and the last two against the team Ron and I played with until this season- and a perfect tournament run certainly makes it look like a great call.
That was fun.
We have a good nucleus for next year. Most everyone will come back, and now that we've weeded out the non-ballplayers the start of the season should not be as ugly. I hope Brian plays, though he seems doubtful. Defensively, he was definitely our most under-utilized player. Mulitiple times this year we played inferior players in spots where Brian would have helped us more, sometimes because we didn't know better and sometimes to ease egos.
I held up fine, although I landed on my bad knee fielding one ground ball and the pain was very similar to my previously mentioned (see post a couple of months ago) ground ball to the groin. I had a force out at third, but when I stood I realized I couldn't run those three steps without collapsing so I threw to 2nd instead.
________________________________________________________
Wow, that was quite a storm.
I have electricity, though it looks like there are only a couple dozen buildings in this little section of the neighborhood who are so lucky- at least as of 9 pm last night when I arrived home.
The high winds and torrential rain hit (suddenly! And I mean suddenly!) as I was in my car, waiting for the light to change at Bardstown Rd/Taylorsville Rd.
At first I thought I'd been rear-ended, but then I realized my car would not continue to shake for so long if that were the case.
The only things visible more than 20 feet from my car were the sparks from transformers.
I was heading to a cook-out but as I crept up Taylorsville at 5 mph I intended to turn back onto my street and wait it out at home. However, even at 5 mph I missed my own street in the blinding rain.
Plan B, I turned into a little lot near Stein Automotive. A few seconds later I felt some thumps and scratching on the roof of my car(oh no, the Hook Man!) and turned to see a tree fall across the road, then realized my car was draped in power lines.
I drove out from under the lines and parked on the other side of the building, then waited a few minutes until the storm's intensity decreased.
Then, after several detours around the neighborhood, I found a clear path back to Taylorsville Rd and headed to the party. Just about every traffic light was out, trees and branches were down everywhere, and both lanes nearest the curbs looked like Beargrass Creek. Branches and garbage cans and other debris were riding the rapids down Taylorsville Rd.
After a slight delay caused by trees down all over the street I was heading to, we all arrived at our destination and ate ribs off the grill.
Good ribs, worth the odyssey.
Champs! We beat the home team twice tonight to win the Sunday league tournament. After a 1 and 6 start to the season I doubted our wisdom regarding entering a team in this league. But six straight wins to end the year- and the last two against the team Ron and I played with until this season- and a perfect tournament run certainly makes it look like a great call.
That was fun.
We have a good nucleus for next year. Most everyone will come back, and now that we've weeded out the non-ballplayers the start of the season should not be as ugly. I hope Brian plays, though he seems doubtful. Defensively, he was definitely our most under-utilized player. Mulitiple times this year we played inferior players in spots where Brian would have helped us more, sometimes because we didn't know better and sometimes to ease egos.
I held up fine, although I landed on my bad knee fielding one ground ball and the pain was very similar to my previously mentioned (see post a couple of months ago) ground ball to the groin. I had a force out at third, but when I stood I realized I couldn't run those three steps without collapsing so I threw to 2nd instead.
________________________________________________________
Wow, that was quite a storm.
I have electricity, though it looks like there are only a couple dozen buildings in this little section of the neighborhood who are so lucky- at least as of 9 pm last night when I arrived home.
The high winds and torrential rain hit (suddenly! And I mean suddenly!) as I was in my car, waiting for the light to change at Bardstown Rd/Taylorsville Rd.
At first I thought I'd been rear-ended, but then I realized my car would not continue to shake for so long if that were the case.
The only things visible more than 20 feet from my car were the sparks from transformers.
I was heading to a cook-out but as I crept up Taylorsville at 5 mph I intended to turn back onto my street and wait it out at home. However, even at 5 mph I missed my own street in the blinding rain.
Plan B, I turned into a little lot near Stein Automotive. A few seconds later I felt some thumps and scratching on the roof of my car(oh no, the Hook Man!) and turned to see a tree fall across the road, then realized my car was draped in power lines.
I drove out from under the lines and parked on the other side of the building, then waited a few minutes until the storm's intensity decreased.
Then, after several detours around the neighborhood, I found a clear path back to Taylorsville Rd and headed to the party. Just about every traffic light was out, trees and branches were down everywhere, and both lanes nearest the curbs looked like Beargrass Creek. Branches and garbage cans and other debris were riding the rapids down Taylorsville Rd.
After a slight delay caused by trees down all over the street I was heading to, we all arrived at our destination and ate ribs off the grill.
Good ribs, worth the odyssey.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
We won a good game Wednesday night in 8 innings.
I'm up writing about it because I first arrived home very late and then had a bit of insomnia. I'm sure I'll sleep soon, and if not at least I have nothing to do Thursday night.
So anyway, 1st, the health update: my knee hurts. But now that I have more detailed info it doesn't bother me as much. Still hurts as much, but doesn't bother me as much. I knew I'd strained my quad and I knew my knee hurt too, but the type of pain was causing much fear.
I now know that the biggest problem with my knee is arthritis. That stinks, but since I've had bouts of inexplicable knee pain for several years and suspected arthritis it isn't much of a surprise.
Now that I know it's much easier to handle; it's nice to not be afraid to take the next step just because the last one hurt like heck.
Wait, did I say "1st the health update?" Sorry, there will be no 2nd. I'm getting sleepy after all. Time for bed. Whatever I was going to type next was probably unimportant.
{What did Kevin intend to discuss before his abrupt halt? A) his stellar defense B) his craptacular hitting C) the incredibly bright moon of Wednesday night/Thursday morning D) all of the above E) none of the above
If you guess correctly you may or may not win a fabulous prize}
I'm up writing about it because I first arrived home very late and then had a bit of insomnia. I'm sure I'll sleep soon, and if not at least I have nothing to do Thursday night.
So anyway, 1st, the health update: my knee hurts. But now that I have more detailed info it doesn't bother me as much. Still hurts as much, but doesn't bother me as much. I knew I'd strained my quad and I knew my knee hurt too, but the type of pain was causing much fear.
I now know that the biggest problem with my knee is arthritis. That stinks, but since I've had bouts of inexplicable knee pain for several years and suspected arthritis it isn't much of a surprise.
Now that I know it's much easier to handle; it's nice to not be afraid to take the next step just because the last one hurt like heck.
Wait, did I say "1st the health update?" Sorry, there will be no 2nd. I'm getting sleepy after all. Time for bed. Whatever I was going to type next was probably unimportant.
{What did Kevin intend to discuss before his abrupt halt? A) his stellar defense B) his craptacular hitting C) the incredibly bright moon of Wednesday night/Thursday morning D) all of the above E) none of the above
If you guess correctly you may or may not win a fabulous prize}
Monday, August 8, 2011
Softball and Medical Update
Not much news on the medical update. Knee generally feels better but not great, and it's making too much noise with movement for me feel splendid about it. Sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies at times. But the anti-inflammatory has helped.
I had an MRI Saturday but I don't know the results yet, other than that it cost me a lot of money.
We won tonight. I played- very poorly. Worst I've hit the ball all year. And I run like a turtle. I thought I was slow before, but a gimpy slow guy is much, much slower than a healthy slow guy.
I did make a terrific perfect throw on a short-to-third-to home double-play, though. I threw off my back foot and leaning the wrong way, right over the runner's shoulder and into the mitt for the tag. I was proud of it.
And on to the most important thing... we kicked butt on the 1st day of the Sunday tournament, taking care of business in our first round match-up and then knocking off the previously undefeated number 1 seed. Our pitcher the 2nd game walked a couple of guys in the 1st inning but then pitched a very good game. Personally, though, I give all the credit for that to the veteran replacement catcher who took over in the 3rd inning. He was a highly skilled, very smart ballplayer, and quite handsome, too.
I had an MRI Saturday but I don't know the results yet, other than that it cost me a lot of money.
We won tonight. I played- very poorly. Worst I've hit the ball all year. And I run like a turtle. I thought I was slow before, but a gimpy slow guy is much, much slower than a healthy slow guy.
I did make a terrific perfect throw on a short-to-third-to home double-play, though. I threw off my back foot and leaning the wrong way, right over the runner's shoulder and into the mitt for the tag. I was proud of it.
And on to the most important thing... we kicked butt on the 1st day of the Sunday tournament, taking care of business in our first round match-up and then knocking off the previously undefeated number 1 seed. Our pitcher the 2nd game walked a couple of guys in the 1st inning but then pitched a very good game. Personally, though, I give all the credit for that to the veteran replacement catcher who took over in the 3rd inning. He was a highly skilled, very smart ballplayer, and quite handsome, too.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Careful What You Wish For
Well, I said it would be a lot easier to figure out what to do if there was swelling.
Now my knee is nice and puffy. I'm going to my regular doc Tuesday. I expect him to poke around a bit and then tell me to see an orthopedist.
My insurance plan doesn't require me to see a primary care doctor first, but I'm doing it anyway with the assumption that in addition to poking around he will also prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine. Which would be nice.
And maybe painkillers. I don't really need those, because as long as I stay inactive it doesn't much hurt. But Tony Dollar$ can resell it for street value, which would also be nice.
Just kidding, Mr. Policeman. Carlos is keeping his nose clean now.
Now my knee is nice and puffy. I'm going to my regular doc Tuesday. I expect him to poke around a bit and then tell me to see an orthopedist.
My insurance plan doesn't require me to see a primary care doctor first, but I'm doing it anyway with the assumption that in addition to poking around he will also prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine. Which would be nice.
And maybe painkillers. I don't really need those, because as long as I stay inactive it doesn't much hurt. But Tony Dollar$ can resell it for street value, which would also be nice.
Just kidding, Mr. Policeman. Carlos is keeping his nose clean now.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Miscellaneous
I can't find anything I really want to read. I'm struggling through 2 or 3 books at the same time right now. None are really capturing my attention. The lack of a great read would not bother me so much if it wasn't 200 degrees* outside every day. I want to stay in and read a good book.
____________________________________
Softball
Sunday team won two today. Combined score 29-1, if memory serves. After a lousy season that's a good way to go into the league tournament.
Monday we won against a very good team, and we won our first tournament game Wednesday, so it was a good week.
I'm not so sure it was a good week for me personally, though. I can't quite tell yet, but I'm unsure whether or not I made it out of my 40th B-day month without a serious injury. Tuesday morning after my game I had some mild knee pain. Wednesday morning it was worse. I played Wednesday night and I believe it got worse.
Trying to describe the injury is difficult. I can run some with no pain, I can sometimes move left or right with no pain, but missteps or any odd direction change sometimes leads to incredibly sharp pain, like I've been stabbed or shocked in my knee. It goes away quickly, and there's no swelling, but when it hurts it hurts like heck.
Right now, it's scaring me a lot more than it's hurting me. It's such a sharp pain when it hurts that I feel like there's something seriously wrong. But then it goes away quickly. But then it hurts really badly again, and goes away quickly again.
If there was major swelling or something it would be a lot easier to figure out.
I've decided I definitely need to get it checked out, and tomorrow I plan to schedule something, but I also think I'll keep playing (in tournament games, anyway) until either I get it checked or until it hurts worse.
__________________________________________
Round 4 of the year: Nevel Meade w/Brian Saturday, 93. I hit like a sissy- partially because that's the way I swing, and partially because I was afraid of my injury. But I chipped and putted okay and my irons were reasonably on-target.
___________________________________________
For Mark's birthday I bought him a season of a show I'm almost certain he hasn't watched. I was very happy with the purchase and thought he'll love it, but it's now 1 hour to August and I still haven't given it to him. Therefore, his birthday season is stretching into the next month, so I'll boo myself on lack of timely gift delivery. But I watched a couple of episodes since I've had it, so that's some consolation to myself.
*Author error. The high temperature this year is actually only 174 degrees. - Ed.
____________________________________
Softball
Sunday team won two today. Combined score 29-1, if memory serves. After a lousy season that's a good way to go into the league tournament.
Monday we won against a very good team, and we won our first tournament game Wednesday, so it was a good week.
I'm not so sure it was a good week for me personally, though. I can't quite tell yet, but I'm unsure whether or not I made it out of my 40th B-day month without a serious injury. Tuesday morning after my game I had some mild knee pain. Wednesday morning it was worse. I played Wednesday night and I believe it got worse.
Trying to describe the injury is difficult. I can run some with no pain, I can sometimes move left or right with no pain, but missteps or any odd direction change sometimes leads to incredibly sharp pain, like I've been stabbed or shocked in my knee. It goes away quickly, and there's no swelling, but when it hurts it hurts like heck.
Right now, it's scaring me a lot more than it's hurting me. It's such a sharp pain when it hurts that I feel like there's something seriously wrong. But then it goes away quickly. But then it hurts really badly again, and goes away quickly again.
If there was major swelling or something it would be a lot easier to figure out.
I've decided I definitely need to get it checked out, and tomorrow I plan to schedule something, but I also think I'll keep playing (in tournament games, anyway) until either I get it checked or until it hurts worse.
__________________________________________
Round 4 of the year: Nevel Meade w/Brian Saturday, 93. I hit like a sissy- partially because that's the way I swing, and partially because I was afraid of my injury. But I chipped and putted okay and my irons were reasonably on-target.
___________________________________________
For Mark's birthday I bought him a season of a show I'm almost certain he hasn't watched. I was very happy with the purchase and thought he'll love it, but it's now 1 hour to August and I still haven't given it to him. Therefore, his birthday season is stretching into the next month, so I'll boo myself on lack of timely gift delivery. But I watched a couple of episodes since I've had it, so that's some consolation to myself.
*Author error. The high temperature this year is actually only 174 degrees. - Ed.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Another loss. Our Sunday team stinks. Oops, I mean Kevin's Sunday team stinks. Tony Dollar$ is still undefeated, as far as Louisville's Most Wanted is concerned.
But Kevin and Carlos and their cast of a dozen or so lost again, this time in a rain-shortened but still official 5-4 disappointment.
I still think this Sunday team, which sits at 1 and 5 in last place, is a team to be reckoned with come tournament time. But as of now we stink.
Our biggest problem is we have a team full of good #7 or 8 hitters in the lineup, but no real 3-5 batting threats. Weak hitting, in other words.
My other real problem is where to put Kid BT. I was going to pitch him today but Ron wanted another guy- Chuck. And Chuck pitched an excellent game. He threw strikes on the first pitch and he then threw tough pitches to hit afterward. You can't ask for anything more.
Brian caught, and he made an excellent put-out on a play at the plate, which is invaluable. But Brian has an excellent glove, and this is the 2nd game he's caught. I can't help but feel we're wasting him back there. Catcher is an extremely under-rated position, and having a guy back there we are confident in is a great advantage, but still...
I like this Sunday team. It's a lot of fun, though we have some major flaws. We just need to start hitting, and I need to figure out where to put my brother and his excellent glove.
_________________________________________
My bruise has turned mostly yellow, which, based on experience, means it will be going away soon. But it stretches from just below my knee to my foot, which is a little disconcerting. Plus one side of my foot is purple, which is also disconcerting. Then Ron mentioned that 10 years ago Jimmy Yates needed surgery on a blood clot after a bruise just like mine, which was a thought that never entered my head until tonight and that is now bothering me slightly, but still, I think it's going away.
____________________________________________
I don't mind ants. I don't particularly care for them, but they are just ants. Tiny bugs that sometimes appear where they are unexpected, and that's about it. They have never creeped me out or anything.
Friday on Fresh Air the guest spent 45 minutes talking about ants, their different varieties and some of their more fascinating behavior. Very interesting stuff. It was actually a repeat, but I missed a lot of it when it was on months ago. I heard it all this time.
None of it would have bothered me at all, except I found an ant on my wall the next night. No big deal. I squashed and flushed him.
But then I opened my sock drawer a few hours later and found another in there. I squished him, too. Then this morning I found two in the kitchen.
All killed, all gone, and I've searched my home top-to-bottom for ant-attractions and ant entry ways, but all seems good.
A few ants would not normally bother me at all. They're just ants. But I hadn't had any for years, and coupled with Friday's Fresh Air story they have me mildly freaked and feeling ants on my skin whenever I have the slightest itch.
But Kevin and Carlos and their cast of a dozen or so lost again, this time in a rain-shortened but still official 5-4 disappointment.
I still think this Sunday team, which sits at 1 and 5 in last place, is a team to be reckoned with come tournament time. But as of now we stink.
Our biggest problem is we have a team full of good #7 or 8 hitters in the lineup, but no real 3-5 batting threats. Weak hitting, in other words.
My other real problem is where to put Kid BT. I was going to pitch him today but Ron wanted another guy- Chuck. And Chuck pitched an excellent game. He threw strikes on the first pitch and he then threw tough pitches to hit afterward. You can't ask for anything more.
Brian caught, and he made an excellent put-out on a play at the plate, which is invaluable. But Brian has an excellent glove, and this is the 2nd game he's caught. I can't help but feel we're wasting him back there. Catcher is an extremely under-rated position, and having a guy back there we are confident in is a great advantage, but still...
I like this Sunday team. It's a lot of fun, though we have some major flaws. We just need to start hitting, and I need to figure out where to put my brother and his excellent glove.
_________________________________________
My bruise has turned mostly yellow, which, based on experience, means it will be going away soon. But it stretches from just below my knee to my foot, which is a little disconcerting. Plus one side of my foot is purple, which is also disconcerting. Then Ron mentioned that 10 years ago Jimmy Yates needed surgery on a blood clot after a bruise just like mine, which was a thought that never entered my head until tonight and that is now bothering me slightly, but still, I think it's going away.
____________________________________________
I don't mind ants. I don't particularly care for them, but they are just ants. Tiny bugs that sometimes appear where they are unexpected, and that's about it. They have never creeped me out or anything.
Friday on Fresh Air the guest spent 45 minutes talking about ants, their different varieties and some of their more fascinating behavior. Very interesting stuff. It was actually a repeat, but I missed a lot of it when it was on months ago. I heard it all this time.
None of it would have bothered me at all, except I found an ant on my wall the next night. No big deal. I squashed and flushed him.
But then I opened my sock drawer a few hours later and found another in there. I squished him, too. Then this morning I found two in the kitchen.
All killed, all gone, and I've searched my home top-to-bottom for ant-attractions and ant entry ways, but all seems good.
A few ants would not normally bother me at all. They're just ants. But I hadn't had any for years, and coupled with Friday's Fresh Air story they have me mildly freaked and feeling ants on my skin whenever I have the slightest itch.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Keep Your Eyes On The Ball
or something like this might happen.
I got this one Sunday while trying to receive a throw from the outfield. I took about 2 steps (from 3rd toward the mound) in order to reach the ball, but the baserunner slid by me and blocked my view at just the wrong time. The ball hit me on the fly, shin high.
It smarted.
It didn't look too bad Monday night, but it was colorful enough by today (Thursday) that it merited a picture.
It's not particularly painful, though I am aware of it when I'm on my feet. Also, I am less a fan than ever before of sock sizes. As the owner sized 11 1/2 feet, I've never liked that socks come in sizes such as 8 to 12 or 9 to 12 because the size ranges always leave my feet on the too-tight end of the spectrum. Add swelling to that and they really start to squeeze.
I got this one Sunday while trying to receive a throw from the outfield. I took about 2 steps (from 3rd toward the mound) in order to reach the ball, but the baserunner slid by me and blocked my view at just the wrong time. The ball hit me on the fly, shin high.
It smarted.
It didn't look too bad Monday night, but it was colorful enough by today (Thursday) that it merited a picture.
It's not particularly painful, though I am aware of it when I'm on my feet. Also, I am less a fan than ever before of sock sizes. As the owner sized 11 1/2 feet, I've never liked that socks come in sizes such as 8 to 12 or 9 to 12 because the size ranges always leave my feet on the too-tight end of the spectrum. Add swelling to that and they really start to squeeze.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Roy Adds Two New Aliases
Tuesday evening I arrived home from work and found a calling card in my door. It was from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, and said they had "some legal process concerning you. Please call the office to facilitate the service of this process."
What the hell? thought I.
I got into my apartment and examined the card again. Didn't notice anything special, just business hours and a Process Number, and Tuesday's date.
What the hell? thought I, again. And again, What the hell?
Then I thumbed through the mail- junk, junk, junk, letter from county attorney's office, junk, junk... What the hell? County attorney?
I opened it and found... a subpoena.
This I examined carefully, as you would probably guess. It was addressed to Mr. Carlos Merriweather, and not to me.
Whew.
Then I picked up the card from the sheriff's office again and finally noticed the name "Carlos Merriweather" written on top of it, too.
Whew, again.
Anyway, I called my landlord that night and left a voicemail explaining that lots of legal folks were looking for Carlos, and left the sheriff's office number. I said if he was a former tenant the landlord might want to call the sheriff and provide any forwarding address or any info he might have.
Then Wednesday morning I called myself, told the deputy that I was the current tenant, had been there for several years and didn't know anything about Mr. Merriweather.
I shared this story at work right away, and of course there were jokes about my alias and how I was really Carlos, etc. and so I went ahead and changed my work email automatic signature to Carlos Merriweather, and it was all good fun.
Then I spent the day at work Googling Carlos. Turns out he is responsible for The Love Club, an entity with which I was vaguely familiar- in the sense that I sometimes receive letters from collection agencies addressed to The Love Club, which I return with "wrong address" noted.
And it turns out Carlos is a recording artists who has had 'regional hits,' whatever that means, and he is a music producer, and has a satellite radio show, and an alias of his own! He is the famous Tony Dollar$!
Nope, I never heard of him, either. But now I had another alias! If I was to become Carlos Merriweather, then I get Tony Dollar$, too, at no additional charge! Other than some possible legal charges, I mean.
Just think, at lunch-time Tuesday I was just Kevin, with one paltry little alter-ego named Roy. And less than 24 hours later I had 3 full aliases, two of which came with extensive backstories. Talk about stepping up in the world.
And did I mention that Carlos is a published author? That's his book- it's a memoir of Tony Dollar$, written by Carlos Merriweather. "Consumine Desire, Masters The Secret Power of True Love" whatever the heck that means, available at Amazon.com now, and also available on audio.
As if this all wasn't enough, it plays in GREAT with my work alias. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Turns out I already had another alias, so that brings my AKA total to four. See, a couple of young ladies at work call me Dr. Love. And I'll leave it at that, because leaving the origins of the name "Dr. Love" mysterious makes me seem like a playa, and I think Tony Dollar$ would handle it just so.
But anyway, heading an organization called The Love Club and publishing a book about mastering the secret power of true love really fits in well with the Dr. Love moniker, so this is really a fun trip, and Kevin AKA Roy AKA Dr. Love AKA Carlos Merriweather AKA Tony Dollar$ is having a blast, at least until the sheriff takes a battering ram to his front door.
What the hell? thought I.
I got into my apartment and examined the card again. Didn't notice anything special, just business hours and a Process Number, and Tuesday's date.
What the hell? thought I, again. And again, What the hell?
Then I thumbed through the mail- junk, junk, junk, letter from county attorney's office, junk, junk... What the hell? County attorney?
I opened it and found... a subpoena.
This I examined carefully, as you would probably guess. It was addressed to Mr. Carlos Merriweather, and not to me.
Whew.
Then I picked up the card from the sheriff's office again and finally noticed the name "Carlos Merriweather" written on top of it, too.
Whew, again.
Anyway, I called my landlord that night and left a voicemail explaining that lots of legal folks were looking for Carlos, and left the sheriff's office number. I said if he was a former tenant the landlord might want to call the sheriff and provide any forwarding address or any info he might have.
Then Wednesday morning I called myself, told the deputy that I was the current tenant, had been there for several years and didn't know anything about Mr. Merriweather.
I shared this story at work right away, and of course there were jokes about my alias and how I was really Carlos, etc. and so I went ahead and changed my work email automatic signature to Carlos Merriweather, and it was all good fun.
Then I spent the day at work Googling Carlos. Turns out he is responsible for The Love Club, an entity with which I was vaguely familiar- in the sense that I sometimes receive letters from collection agencies addressed to The Love Club, which I return with "wrong address" noted.
And it turns out Carlos is a recording artists who has had 'regional hits,' whatever that means, and he is a music producer, and has a satellite radio show, and an alias of his own! He is the famous Tony Dollar$!
Nope, I never heard of him, either. But now I had another alias! If I was to become Carlos Merriweather, then I get Tony Dollar$, too, at no additional charge! Other than some possible legal charges, I mean.
Just think, at lunch-time Tuesday I was just Kevin, with one paltry little alter-ego named Roy. And less than 24 hours later I had 3 full aliases, two of which came with extensive backstories. Talk about stepping up in the world.
And did I mention that Carlos is a published author? That's his book- it's a memoir of Tony Dollar$, written by Carlos Merriweather. "Consumine Desire, Masters The Secret Power of True Love" whatever the heck that means, available at Amazon.com now, and also available on audio.
As if this all wasn't enough, it plays in GREAT with my work alias. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Turns out I already had another alias, so that brings my AKA total to four. See, a couple of young ladies at work call me Dr. Love. And I'll leave it at that, because leaving the origins of the name "Dr. Love" mysterious makes me seem like a playa, and I think Tony Dollar$ would handle it just so.
But anyway, heading an organization called The Love Club and publishing a book about mastering the secret power of true love really fits in well with the Dr. Love moniker, so this is really a fun trip, and Kevin AKA Roy AKA Dr. Love AKA Carlos Merriweather AKA Tony Dollar$ is having a blast, at least until the sheriff takes a battering ram to his front door.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
An update just to be able to say I've posted every day since I turned 40. That will end tomorrow, but still...
I enjoyed my birthday, other than the day at work and the error and poor hitting on the softball field. But we won, and went to Angio's for pizza after the game and had a nice time.
I've started to really hate playing the early game. I'm going to start choosing 6:15 and 6:30 games as my games to sit out, because after a day behind a desk and the rush to the ball field, I always find I have dead legs and slow reactions and just generally no zip for the early games.
Fourth of July weekend was all very fun. I was busy and had a good time each day.
Saturday morning we played golf. 97 at Maywood, which is not good, by any means, but that's a very tough course and it was only my 3rd round of the year, so under 100 is fine by me.
We thought we had a groupon discount, but it was only for after noon on weekends, so we ended up paying about 50 bucks each, which really stunk.
Then a large group went to dinner at Outback, and we went to the casino that night, and to a bar after the casino.
It was all fun, but it had all the hallmarks of a very expensive day. I budgeted for an expensive day, too. I figured it was a holiday weekend, I hadn't spent much money lately, so what the heck? Have a really fun day and don't worry about it.
And I ended up waking up Sunday morning to more money in my wallet than I started with! So, yaaaay casino!
I've only been to casinos 4 times in my life, and I've left a winner three times! I need to go more often!
Actually, I know that's not true. But it's actually not that surprising. They give back about 90% of the betting money, so I figure each time I go I have about a 45% chance of winning. That's a reasonable percentage for a once-per-year good time. It's the people who go twice a week who are guaranteed to lose big.
I enjoyed my birthday, other than the day at work and the error and poor hitting on the softball field. But we won, and went to Angio's for pizza after the game and had a nice time.
I've started to really hate playing the early game. I'm going to start choosing 6:15 and 6:30 games as my games to sit out, because after a day behind a desk and the rush to the ball field, I always find I have dead legs and slow reactions and just generally no zip for the early games.
Fourth of July weekend was all very fun. I was busy and had a good time each day.
Saturday morning we played golf. 97 at Maywood, which is not good, by any means, but that's a very tough course and it was only my 3rd round of the year, so under 100 is fine by me.
We thought we had a groupon discount, but it was only for after noon on weekends, so we ended up paying about 50 bucks each, which really stunk.
Then a large group went to dinner at Outback, and we went to the casino that night, and to a bar after the casino.
It was all fun, but it had all the hallmarks of a very expensive day. I budgeted for an expensive day, too. I figured it was a holiday weekend, I hadn't spent much money lately, so what the heck? Have a really fun day and don't worry about it.
And I ended up waking up Sunday morning to more money in my wallet than I started with! So, yaaaay casino!
I've only been to casinos 4 times in my life, and I've left a winner three times! I need to go more often!
Actually, I know that's not true. But it's actually not that surprising. They give back about 90% of the betting money, so I figure each time I go I have about a 45% chance of winning. That's a reasonable percentage for a once-per-year good time. It's the people who go twice a week who are guaranteed to lose big.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Home now, and watching Wave 3 to catch up on storm damage and stuff. But tonight was weird.
We have a good start on a bad loss, down 10-1 in the 4th inning. The first time the sirens went off the umpires did nothing. We stayed on the field. Stupid. I asked the home plate umpire why we were still playing. No good answer.
I didn't really mind. The weather looked nasty, but it looked nastiest in the direction of my home, so I didn't really plan on leaving anyway.
Finally, when the sirens sounded again, they stopped play. I stayed, still because the weather looked nastier at home than it did at the ballfield, and also I live on the 2nd floor and have no basement. I figured I might as well eat a fish sandwich and drink a beer.
Mom and Dad left, and drove straight into the reported tornado path. Good for you, folks! I'm glad you arrived home safely but I'm disappointed you don't have a sensational youtube video to post.
A good crowd of us stayed and watched the clouds gathering and swirling off in the direction of Churchill Downs, which apparently had some definite damage. Many left, but those who remained constantly discussed where it was and what it looked like, and we all have lived here long enough that we could all watch the sky and make very good guesses at where the worst of it was, and was going to be. Those of us who remained at the ballpark all lived in what we thought was the storm path, and we all decided we were safer staying out in the open elsewhere. Not particularly safe, but safer.
So we played cornhole.
It really was incredibly nasty looking. I don't believe I've ever seen a nastier looking sky. The sirens sounded about six different times. Only six or seven of us waited out the worst looking bits of the storm, but I think we all made the right decision. Nobody stayed just for the heck of it- we followed weather reports and watched the sky and all felt safer where we were than where we were going.
Looking out toward the west we could see all the storm clouds gathering together. I've never seen anything quite like that. One small section of the sky just seemed to be sucking up the clouds from every other area and we could see it swirling together. Our best consensus guess was around U of L's campus, so if it was Churchill Downs we weren't far off.
Plus, for me at least, it wasn't exactly a vague, take-a-guess sort of situation. At one point I was trying to decide whether to leave or not and I heard "tornado heading toward Bowman Field." The ballpark is only a couple of miles from there, but as my home is only a couple of hundred yards from there, staying put seemed smarter.
But I'm home now. And my home is not scattered from here to St. Matthews, there is no damage in the area, so everything is fine. I'll be curious to see how much damage is around the county in the morning.
We have a good start on a bad loss, down 10-1 in the 4th inning. The first time the sirens went off the umpires did nothing. We stayed on the field. Stupid. I asked the home plate umpire why we were still playing. No good answer.
I didn't really mind. The weather looked nasty, but it looked nastiest in the direction of my home, so I didn't really plan on leaving anyway.
Finally, when the sirens sounded again, they stopped play. I stayed, still because the weather looked nastier at home than it did at the ballfield, and also I live on the 2nd floor and have no basement. I figured I might as well eat a fish sandwich and drink a beer.
Mom and Dad left, and drove straight into the reported tornado path. Good for you, folks! I'm glad you arrived home safely but I'm disappointed you don't have a sensational youtube video to post.
A good crowd of us stayed and watched the clouds gathering and swirling off in the direction of Churchill Downs, which apparently had some definite damage. Many left, but those who remained constantly discussed where it was and what it looked like, and we all have lived here long enough that we could all watch the sky and make very good guesses at where the worst of it was, and was going to be. Those of us who remained at the ballpark all lived in what we thought was the storm path, and we all decided we were safer staying out in the open elsewhere. Not particularly safe, but safer.
So we played cornhole.
It really was incredibly nasty looking. I don't believe I've ever seen a nastier looking sky. The sirens sounded about six different times. Only six or seven of us waited out the worst looking bits of the storm, but I think we all made the right decision. Nobody stayed just for the heck of it- we followed weather reports and watched the sky and all felt safer where we were than where we were going.
Looking out toward the west we could see all the storm clouds gathering together. I've never seen anything quite like that. One small section of the sky just seemed to be sucking up the clouds from every other area and we could see it swirling together. Our best consensus guess was around U of L's campus, so if it was Churchill Downs we weren't far off.
Plus, for me at least, it wasn't exactly a vague, take-a-guess sort of situation. At one point I was trying to decide whether to leave or not and I heard "tornado heading toward Bowman Field." The ballpark is only a couple of miles from there, but as my home is only a couple of hundred yards from there, staying put seemed smarter.
But I'm home now. And my home is not scattered from here to St. Matthews, there is no damage in the area, so everything is fine. I'll be curious to see how much damage is around the county in the morning.
Monday, June 20, 2011
One or Two or Three Things (won't know how many until I finish)
1) Happy birthday to my wonderful sister-in-law. Kim, you are one of my favorite people on this planet. Mark is an amazinginly fantastic guy and deserves nothing but the best, and I'm very happy that you two found each other because I feel exactly the same way about you.
I'd have posted that on your Facebook wall where you are more likely to see it, but I haven't been on Facebook in a couple of weeks and see no reason to mess with the streak. Besides, putting it on the blog makes it official in Kevindom, whereas everything on Facebook- while permanent- is still unofficial.
2) Happy half-birthday Jillian! You are a rascally sweetie and I love you dearly.
3) And I love Erin dearly, too, and/or though she is not as rascally as her little sister.
4) All the most important stuff is out of the way. Here is the unimportant stuff.
A) I learned to make outlines, with numbered headings and lettered subheadings, way, way back in 7th or 8th or 9th grade, so I'm doing it now. Subheading 'A,' which, doesn't really fit in anywhere but is instead only devoted to this notion I had about outlining my notes, and which is extremely prolonged and not brief and concise as notes should be, and thus is not at all a good illustration of the art of good note-taking and which is in fact an example of very poor performance in this area, should be ignored.
B) I hit a few golf balls today. I did so yesterday, too. I'm still lousy, but my extended time away has given me hope that I may improve again. I strike the ball much better than I did a year or two ago. That doesn't surprise me, really. I went from decent to lousy very quickly, and then I couldn't find anything close to a decent swing again. I thought some time away might help, and it seems it has.
C) We won tonight, putting the Yogis back over .500. That's our Monday/Wednesday team. What's amazing to me is that we are now 4 and 0 without our starting shortstop. He is arguably our best player. He's a great guy, hits well, fields well, does everything right. And individually he is having a fantastic season. 1 error maximum and he's batting about .600. So I have no idea how we are 4-o without him and 2 and 5 with him. Makes no sense to me. But that won't prevent me from reminding him of it.
I'd have posted that on your Facebook wall where you are more likely to see it, but I haven't been on Facebook in a couple of weeks and see no reason to mess with the streak. Besides, putting it on the blog makes it official in Kevindom, whereas everything on Facebook- while permanent- is still unofficial.
2) Happy half-birthday Jillian! You are a rascally sweetie and I love you dearly.
3) And I love Erin dearly, too, and/or though she is not as rascally as her little sister.
4) All the most important stuff is out of the way. Here is the unimportant stuff.
A) I learned to make outlines, with numbered headings and lettered subheadings, way, way back in 7th or 8th or 9th grade, so I'm doing it now. Subheading 'A,' which, doesn't really fit in anywhere but is instead only devoted to this notion I had about outlining my notes, and which is extremely prolonged and not brief and concise as notes should be, and thus is not at all a good illustration of the art of good note-taking and which is in fact an example of very poor performance in this area, should be ignored.
B) I hit a few golf balls today. I did so yesterday, too. I'm still lousy, but my extended time away has given me hope that I may improve again. I strike the ball much better than I did a year or two ago. That doesn't surprise me, really. I went from decent to lousy very quickly, and then I couldn't find anything close to a decent swing again. I thought some time away might help, and it seems it has.
C) We won tonight, putting the Yogis back over .500. That's our Monday/Wednesday team. What's amazing to me is that we are now 4 and 0 without our starting shortstop. He is arguably our best player. He's a great guy, hits well, fields well, does everything right. And individually he is having a fantastic season. 1 error maximum and he's batting about .600. So I have no idea how we are 4-o without him and 2 and 5 with him. Makes no sense to me. But that won't prevent me from reminding him of it.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I played 3 innings tonight and benched myself to get playing time for someone else. Too much of that this year. I keep saying it's going to stop, because I want (and deserve) to be in the lineup, but I keep doing it. I also batted leadoff. We've not hit at all, needed to shake things up, and so when Chris suggested it I said sure. I walked to start the game, then lined out. So, good enough. And I played good defense.
But we were down 12-3 after 5 and a half innings(all 3 of our runs in my leadoff first inning, thank you) and I had removed myself from the game. I was coaching 3rd, we were lifeless and seemed destined for defeat. I shouted everything I'm supposed to- encouragement, instruction, etc., and acted like we were in the game, but we really weren't, I thought. Then we got a few hits, I waved a few runners around, held a few, and after the inning I glanced at the scoreboard and it was 12-9. Not so bad.
Then we scored 3 in the 7th- timely hitting, an error, and some smart, agressive baserunning, and it was 12-12, but we left the winning run on 3rd.
They again didn't score in the 8th, and we won it with a couple of huge hits.
It was nice. We needed a couple of innings like that. Snuck up on me, though. We started hitting great just when I least expected it.
But we were down 12-3 after 5 and a half innings(all 3 of our runs in my leadoff first inning, thank you) and I had removed myself from the game. I was coaching 3rd, we were lifeless and seemed destined for defeat. I shouted everything I'm supposed to- encouragement, instruction, etc., and acted like we were in the game, but we really weren't, I thought. Then we got a few hits, I waved a few runners around, held a few, and after the inning I glanced at the scoreboard and it was 12-9. Not so bad.
Then we scored 3 in the 7th- timely hitting, an error, and some smart, agressive baserunning, and it was 12-12, but we left the winning run on 3rd.
They again didn't score in the 8th, and we won it with a couple of huge hits.
It was nice. We needed a couple of innings like that. Snuck up on me, though. We started hitting great just when I least expected it.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
I started a 2nd blog a couple months ago. There's absolutely nothing on it, so providing a link to it is unimportant. If I ever put anything on there I'll let you know.
I only mention it for one reason. I logged in and provided a long mid-June softball update (entry titled, imaginatively "Mid-June Softball Update"). I'd guess it was about 300 words. I finished it, hit "publish" and then looked at it, and saw that it was on my unused blog.
No problem, i thought. I just copied everything, deleted the post, and then signed in to this blog to paste it. When I pasted this was the sum total of the paste:
Doesn't seem like much, does it?
I'm not retyping the whole thing, so I'll provide only the very barest highlights.
Yogis Monday/Wednesday: so far we've alternated between very good and very bad, with nothing in between. I expect we'll be okay this year but not great.
I'm personally having my best year ever, but I attribute it partially to luck. I can keep it up, but I'll need to play better the rest of the year just to get the same results.
Sunday: we aren't very good, but it seems like a fairly fun team.
I'm not sure how Ron and I got so stupid. We played for free on a good team, had no worries, just showed up and played. But this year we decided to enter our own team, we have to pay, we spend weekends trying to scrounge up enough players, and the team is not as good.
But it is fun. And I get to play with my brother. I've never played on any team with Brian before, and I really enjoy it. Plus he's done a darned good job pitching so far.
I only mention it for one reason. I logged in and provided a long mid-June softball update (entry titled, imaginatively "Mid-June Softball Update"). I'd guess it was about 300 words. I finished it, hit "publish" and then looked at it, and saw that it was on my unused blog.
No problem, i thought. I just copied everything, deleted the post, and then signed in to this blog to paste it. When I pasted this was the sum total of the paste:
Mid
Doesn't seem like much, does it?
I'm not retyping the whole thing, so I'll provide only the very barest highlights.
Yogis Monday/Wednesday: so far we've alternated between very good and very bad, with nothing in between. I expect we'll be okay this year but not great.
I'm personally having my best year ever, but I attribute it partially to luck. I can keep it up, but I'll need to play better the rest of the year just to get the same results.
Sunday: we aren't very good, but it seems like a fairly fun team.
I'm not sure how Ron and I got so stupid. We played for free on a good team, had no worries, just showed up and played. But this year we decided to enter our own team, we have to pay, we spend weekends trying to scrounge up enough players, and the team is not as good.
But it is fun. And I get to play with my brother. I've never played on any team with Brian before, and I really enjoy it. Plus he's done a darned good job pitching so far.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
NC 17, Graphic violence. No adult language, but it would have been justified.
We'll start the story slowly, with some background info...Last Wednesday night we were filling out our lineup and realized we were short a shortstop. We had plenty of bodies, the other nine spots were covered fine, but we really had no true shortstop. It looked like the job might be mine. I had already heard opinions to that effect, and I didn't like it. I'm a capable fielder, but I'm not a shortstop. I don't have the requisite lateral mobility.
So what to do? I looked around, saw Chad, who was penciled in as our left center fielder and who, as far as I know, had never played shortstop. I said "Chad, will you play short?"
He was reluctant, but willing. Especially after I reasoned with him. I did so by telling him it was either him or me, and that it wasn't going to be me. Chad understood the sound reasoning behind that argument.
He had one objection. He wasn't wearing a cup. A valid point, you may say.
I had a ready response. I don't wear one. None of our other infielders wear one. I asked around. It's true. Chad, I said, I've been playing infield for Yogis since the mid 90's and I've never taken a ball in the 'sweet spot,' so to speak. Never. (FORESHADOWING, for those of you scoring this story at home)
Cut to Sunday, second game of doubleheader...
Our hero (me) takes a solid ground ball squarely to Mr. Right Nut. He gamely scoops it (the ball, not Mr. Right Nut) back up and gets a force out at 2nd base. Then he starts sweating, and moaning quietly to himself, and noticing he's got cold chills and the temperature seems to have dropped 30 degrees in seconds. He (me, I'm still talking about, just in case you're confused) grits it out and, thankfully, the third out arrives quickly and our injured hero can return to the bench.
What an ache!!! Goodness, I've never felt anything so painful. I've been hit there before. Who hasn't? But that was a solid shot, no holds barred. Playing ball I've had a broken nose, broken fingers, dislocated thumb, and all sorts of assorted pulled muscles and bloodied body parts. But if given a choice, I don't hesitate for a second to say I'd rather suffer all of those at once than another direct hit like that.
Thank you for listening. Just talking about it helps a lot. Is there a co-pay?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
My relationship with Facebook is love/hate, with most of the emphasis on hate. It can be pretty cool sometimes, but it comes with a lot of baggage.
I share only a very limited amount of my personal information on the site. It just doesn't seem safe at all. And now I think I have proof that Facebook gathers, receives, and shares
plenty of my personal information. Not that I really needed proof, since it's not really a secret, but still.
Anyway, here's the deal. The little spot on the side of the page that shows friend suggestions keeps offering Lena as a possible friend. I thought this was usually a result of having mutual 'friends.' But I ran through her list of Facebook friends and we don't appear to have a single Facebook friend in common.
So why the friend suggestion? I have to believe the only possible reason is all of our shared mutual history- addresses, credit info, names on bills, etc. None of that info is on Facebook, but I have to believe it's been assimilated somewhere and somehow for Facebook to use.
There is only one logical explanation: the Facebook corporate devils are planning to take over the world. Thus, I must enter virtual Facebook and defeat my profile at a game of Yahtzee.
(that's a South Park reference, so if you haven't seen the episode don't strain yourself trying to figure out the nonsense.)
Friday, May 6, 2011
Derby handicapping update
I switched horses. Again. My Derby favorites this year have been plentiful, even though my top choices haven't really been getting beat. I've gone from Mucho Macho Man to Dialed In to Archarcharch to Dialed In again to Archarcharch again to Stay Thirsty to.... Soldat.
If you're looking for a winner, I'd advise either Mucho Macho Man or Dialed In. The reason is simple; I put a $2 win bet on the each of the other 3 horses I've liked, but not Mucho Macho Man and Dialed In. So one of them will probably win.
I didn't like seeing Uncle Mo scratched because I've never been impressed with that horse. I wanted him in the race at about 5 to 1, driving up the odds on whoever I liked.
I finally settled on Soldat for my traditional $2 WPS wager on my official, braggers' rights Derby bet because he's one of the few who's been consistently excellent (minus FL), because he'll be up front and likely out of traffic and probably not have a breakneck pace, and because he appears set to go off at odds in the neighborhood of 20-1. That's good odds for a horse when the best he's shown so far is at least as good as or better than all the others.
In what is becoming a Derby Eve tradition, I made Derby bets, including exacta and trifecta, and bets on the first 4 races since I have to work for a while tomorrow. Rotten timing for our busiest time of year.
In what is becoming a Derby Day tradition, I'll bring my racing form and program to work to check out races 5, 6, and 7, so I should be very productive.
If you're looking for a winner, I'd advise either Mucho Macho Man or Dialed In. The reason is simple; I put a $2 win bet on the each of the other 3 horses I've liked, but not Mucho Macho Man and Dialed In. So one of them will probably win.
I didn't like seeing Uncle Mo scratched because I've never been impressed with that horse. I wanted him in the race at about 5 to 1, driving up the odds on whoever I liked.
I finally settled on Soldat for my traditional $2 WPS wager on my official, braggers' rights Derby bet because he's one of the few who's been consistently excellent (minus FL), because he'll be up front and likely out of traffic and probably not have a breakneck pace, and because he appears set to go off at odds in the neighborhood of 20-1. That's good odds for a horse when the best he's shown so far is at least as good as or better than all the others.
In what is becoming a Derby Eve tradition, I made Derby bets, including exacta and trifecta, and bets on the first 4 races since I have to work for a while tomorrow. Rotten timing for our busiest time of year.
In what is becoming a Derby Day tradition, I'll bring my racing form and program to work to check out races 5, 6, and 7, so I should be very productive.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Rather than wait until the last minute...
I'll let you know early. After running over 27 million race simulations on my computer program ( that was a lie), crunching all the numbers ( a few of the numbers, and not really understanding them), doing hours of painstaking research (actually, just browsing Bloodhorse.com a couple of times to see what Steve Haskins thought), and consulting countless experts (I asked a guy at work "Who do you like?"), I am prepared to reveal the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner.
and the winner is... "Stay Thirsty, my friends"
Why? Couple of reasons.
First, I do like the way he runs. I've watched all the Derby preps on youtube and Stay Thirsty seems to be able to shift gears pretty well and really turn on the speed. I like that in a crowded Derby field, and of the several horses who I think can do it he is likely to have the best odds.
Second, and most important, by selecting Stay Thirsty I could make a reference to the Dos Equis guy, otherwise known as The Most Interesting Man in the World. "Sharks have a week devoted to him." Also, "he can speak French, in Russian."
There are several other horses I like. Archarcharch, Mucho Macho Man, Midnight Interlude, and Pants On Fire, and probably about five more. In fact, I almost went with Mucho Macho Man, and if the name I keep mistakenly calling him- Super Macho Man- were in fact his correct name, I might have selected him instead so I could have used this Punchout picture.
Speaking of names, I was looking at the Oaks draw and thinking I really didn't like the name St. Johns River. A few minutes later I realized it was because St. John Rivers is the name of the dull and (to me) very unlikeable missionary cousin of Jane Eyre. Then, a few minutes after that, I realized that having favorite and least favorite characters in Jane eyre probably means I'm a nerd. Oh well.
__________________________________________
Favorite? Rochester, of course. Though that creepy Grace Pool rocks, too.
and the winner is... "Stay Thirsty, my friends"
Why? Couple of reasons.
First, I do like the way he runs. I've watched all the Derby preps on youtube and Stay Thirsty seems to be able to shift gears pretty well and really turn on the speed. I like that in a crowded Derby field, and of the several horses who I think can do it he is likely to have the best odds.
Second, and most important, by selecting Stay Thirsty I could make a reference to the Dos Equis guy, otherwise known as The Most Interesting Man in the World. "Sharks have a week devoted to him." Also, "he can speak French, in Russian."
There are several other horses I like. Archarcharch, Mucho Macho Man, Midnight Interlude, and Pants On Fire, and probably about five more. In fact, I almost went with Mucho Macho Man, and if the name I keep mistakenly calling him- Super Macho Man- were in fact his correct name, I might have selected him instead so I could have used this Punchout picture.
Speaking of names, I was looking at the Oaks draw and thinking I really didn't like the name St. Johns River. A few minutes later I realized it was because St. John Rivers is the name of the dull and (to me) very unlikeable missionary cousin of Jane Eyre. Then, a few minutes after that, I realized that having favorite and least favorite characters in Jane eyre probably means I'm a nerd. Oh well.
__________________________________________
Favorite? Rochester, of course. Though that creepy Grace Pool rocks, too.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
A Topic Off The Top Of My Head, Just Because I Haven't Posted Much Lately
I'm trying to remember the last time I heard someone referred to a phone as 'the' phone, as opposed to 'my' phone or 'your' phone or 'his/her' phone. Now that everybody has one in their pocket, 'the' has been replaced by a personal pronoun.
That's a small shame. I liked 'the phone.' Even though telephones, like everything else in the home, were personal property, I think it was neat that they were referred to more as community property. Even people who lived alone would say 'the' phone.
"I'm sorry I missed your call, I couldn't get to the phone in time."
The telephone was a link to the outside world and was treated with respect. I can almost imagine the 'T' capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence. "Please answer The Phone."
Now The Phone is everywhere. It goes where we go. We are the phone and the phone is us. Well, not me. I sometimes turn my phone off and then forget to turn it back on for a day or two. No biggie. I've never yet missed an important call.
See? Having one around all the time, I've lost all respect for The Phone. 10 years ago I never would have dreamed of unplugging my phone for 2 days, just because. Now I turn it off all the time.
Here's a conversation I had not too long ago.
Other Person: (incredulous)You turn your phone off?
Me: Sure.
OP: But what if someone needs to get hold of you?
Me: I have voicemail.
OP: What if it's an emergency?
Me: Like what?
OP: An accident, or somebody in the emergency room or something.
Me: In that case, 911 is a better option. I'm not trained.
She couldn't fathom how I survive with the phone off. How can I cut myself off from Important News that I might need immediately?
I explained, or tried to explain, that I do it the same way everybody did it prior to a few short years ago. If I miss the important news now, I'll hear it later. If not, then it probably wasn't that important in the first place.
And I seriously dislike text messages. They are too intrusive. Questions, comments, opinions, demands on my time can now all be sent without a filter, straight to me. I don't like it.
Calls can be filtered, which I like. I can choose not to answer. Or if I do answer I can somewhat guide the conversation. Before the demanding question can be asked I can help set the tone.
So don't text me.
That's a small shame. I liked 'the phone.' Even though telephones, like everything else in the home, were personal property, I think it was neat that they were referred to more as community property. Even people who lived alone would say 'the' phone.
"I'm sorry I missed your call, I couldn't get to the phone in time."
The telephone was a link to the outside world and was treated with respect. I can almost imagine the 'T' capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence. "Please answer The Phone."
Now The Phone is everywhere. It goes where we go. We are the phone and the phone is us. Well, not me. I sometimes turn my phone off and then forget to turn it back on for a day or two. No biggie. I've never yet missed an important call.
See? Having one around all the time, I've lost all respect for The Phone. 10 years ago I never would have dreamed of unplugging my phone for 2 days, just because. Now I turn it off all the time.
Here's a conversation I had not too long ago.
Other Person: (incredulous)You turn your phone off?
Me: Sure.
OP: But what if someone needs to get hold of you?
Me: I have voicemail.
OP: What if it's an emergency?
Me: Like what?
OP: An accident, or somebody in the emergency room or something.
Me: In that case, 911 is a better option. I'm not trained.
She couldn't fathom how I survive with the phone off. How can I cut myself off from Important News that I might need immediately?
I explained, or tried to explain, that I do it the same way everybody did it prior to a few short years ago. If I miss the important news now, I'll hear it later. If not, then it probably wasn't that important in the first place.
And I seriously dislike text messages. They are too intrusive. Questions, comments, opinions, demands on my time can now all be sent without a filter, straight to me. I don't like it.
Calls can be filtered, which I like. I can choose not to answer. Or if I do answer I can somewhat guide the conversation. Before the demanding question can be asked I can help set the tone.
So don't text me.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Acting on Brian's tip about Blockbuster's going-out-of-business sale, I bought "Anchorman" and seasons 1 and 3 of "30 Rock." Great haul. I'd have bought season 2 as well if it was in stock. Love that show, and I feel quite sure I'll watch "Anchorman" repeatedly.Another stop on my Sunday shopping spree netted me the newest Jasper Fforde book, "One of Our Thursdays is Missing." I've been looking forward to it for ages and ages, knew late last year it was finally due out early this year, and yet missed the release date. I was surprised and delighted to see it on the shelf.
It's the sixth in his "Thursday Next" series. The first five were wonderfully entertaining.
I was going to start reading it last night but decided I'll finish my Huck Finn re-read first. But I did read through the first few pages and it was enough to remind me of everything I like about Fforde's novels: fun plots, zany characters, snide jokes, corny jokes, great literary references, and combinations such as fun snide corny literary jokes.
I'm only 5 pages in and already there's a marvelous gag about how hard it is to remember character names in "Crime and Punishment." What more could I ask for?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Literature And the Person Who Listens To It
I recently discovered Librivox.org. It's a fantastic site with lots of public domain audio books. I've made extensive use of it over the last month or so.
Previously, the only audio book I'd ever made it all the way through was a biography of Alexander Hamilton. And, at the time I listened to it, the only reason I made it through was because we lived in Somerset and I drove frequently back and forth between there and Louisville. Other than that, I could not handle audio books.
I find I still have some trouble with them. I listen at work, and try as I might to appropriately prioritize, I find that my work crowds out my pleasure listening and I frequently can't adequately follow the story. No matter, though, as the work day is long and I can just back up and try again.
As keeping track of the story is especially difficult when there is something else I'm supposed to be doing, I've found that the audio is terrific for my long list of wished-for re-reads. Since I'm familiar with the plot, missing a minute or five doesn't bother me.
When I first found the site I listened to Treasure Island, which was somehow new to me. I knew the story, had seeen movies, plus various other stories stolen from it, but somehow I had never read it. It was terrific.
Another new one for me is Rudyard Kipling's Kim, which I have not quite finished, but I am close. Very entertaining. I've also listened to quite a few Wodehouse stories, which are especially good as most last between 20 and 45 minutes so I can select one of those late in the day and hear the whole thing.
The re-reads have been the best, though, since my attention can wander. I've listened to Hamlet, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Julius Caesar, and various Sherlock Holmes stories. I also listend to Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, which is one of my favorite books. I have intended to re-read it for ages, but I hadn't touched it in almost twenty years.
_______________________________________________________________
As for reading the old fashioned way, I've had some difficulty lately in finding a really good book.
I read Graham Swift's Out of This World. Pretty good, but no Waterland. Waterland was outstanding, but I've now read three others by him and none were even remotely close to as good.
I have a very thin book of essays by Christopher Hitchens which I picked up on the Barnes and Noble bargain shelf. It's slow going, though. He's a talented writer and I really appreciate his arguments, but he's just not very likeable. I can certainly understand why he gets under conservatives' skins, since I'm an ultra-liberal and generally agree with him but even I think he's a pompous ass.
I'm also re-reading Huckleberry Finn. I'm about half-finished. Brian mentioned he bought it at Borders and I thought "hmm, I should probably give that another look." So I am doing so.
Previously, the only audio book I'd ever made it all the way through was a biography of Alexander Hamilton. And, at the time I listened to it, the only reason I made it through was because we lived in Somerset and I drove frequently back and forth between there and Louisville. Other than that, I could not handle audio books.
I find I still have some trouble with them. I listen at work, and try as I might to appropriately prioritize, I find that my work crowds out my pleasure listening and I frequently can't adequately follow the story. No matter, though, as the work day is long and I can just back up and try again.
As keeping track of the story is especially difficult when there is something else I'm supposed to be doing, I've found that the audio is terrific for my long list of wished-for re-reads. Since I'm familiar with the plot, missing a minute or five doesn't bother me.
When I first found the site I listened to Treasure Island, which was somehow new to me. I knew the story, had seeen movies, plus various other stories stolen from it, but somehow I had never read it. It was terrific.
Another new one for me is Rudyard Kipling's Kim, which I have not quite finished, but I am close. Very entertaining. I've also listened to quite a few Wodehouse stories, which are especially good as most last between 20 and 45 minutes so I can select one of those late in the day and hear the whole thing.
The re-reads have been the best, though, since my attention can wander. I've listened to Hamlet, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Julius Caesar, and various Sherlock Holmes stories. I also listend to Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, which is one of my favorite books. I have intended to re-read it for ages, but I hadn't touched it in almost twenty years.
_______________________________________________________________
As for reading the old fashioned way, I've had some difficulty lately in finding a really good book.
I read Graham Swift's Out of This World. Pretty good, but no Waterland. Waterland was outstanding, but I've now read three others by him and none were even remotely close to as good.
I have a very thin book of essays by Christopher Hitchens which I picked up on the Barnes and Noble bargain shelf. It's slow going, though. He's a talented writer and I really appreciate his arguments, but he's just not very likeable. I can certainly understand why he gets under conservatives' skins, since I'm an ultra-liberal and generally agree with him but even I think he's a pompous ass.
I'm also re-reading Huckleberry Finn. I'm about half-finished. Brian mentioned he bought it at Borders and I thought "hmm, I should probably give that another look." So I am doing so.
Friday, April 1, 2011
For years I read the Courier-Journal every day. I hated missing a day. The paper has gone steadily downhill for the same reason all of them have: reduced revenue caused cutbacks which reduced quality which reduced revenue which caused cutbacks which reduced quality which reduced revenue which... well you get the idea.
Suffice it to say that the quality sunk low enough that I no longer minded missing a day, and now I rarely see it.
Today, though, someone showed me an article about a local employers' summit meeting/symposium on health care costs and health in the workplace.
Featured prominently were quotes from my company's CEO. His point was that the workplace health iniatives instituted at the same time as our high deductible health care plans have made employees healthier. His 'proof' was our lowered BMI, a reduction in our number of medical claims, and a reduction in the monetary amount of our monthy health care claims.
So I was forced to send an email to the writer of the piece of ____ article, asking if he'd bothered to ask any of the likely follow-up questions, such as
1) How do you know employees' BMI have dropped? Where could you possibly have attained this information, other than pulling it straight out of your ___?
or
2) Is it possible that reduced claims are not the result of better health, but rather the result of the fact that employees have instead chosen to forego proper medical care because they CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THE HIGH DEDUCTIBLE?
____________________________________________
Why, you may ask, did I 'bury the lead' on this post? Why start a rant about my employer with comments about the newspaper?
Because it's not a rant about the employer. It's a rant about shoddy reporting. A CEO's job is basically to get as much out of his workers for as little cost as possible, while spinning it with positive publicity. So our CEO did a stellar job, ____ though he may be.
The reporter's job is not to just print whatever self-serving load of ____ the CEO hands out. He's supposed to actually verify it.
Suffice it to say that the quality sunk low enough that I no longer minded missing a day, and now I rarely see it.
Today, though, someone showed me an article about a local employers' summit meeting/symposium on health care costs and health in the workplace.
Featured prominently were quotes from my company's CEO. His point was that the workplace health iniatives instituted at the same time as our high deductible health care plans have made employees healthier. His 'proof' was our lowered BMI, a reduction in our number of medical claims, and a reduction in the monetary amount of our monthy health care claims.
So I was forced to send an email to the writer of the piece of ____ article, asking if he'd bothered to ask any of the likely follow-up questions, such as
1) How do you know employees' BMI have dropped? Where could you possibly have attained this information, other than pulling it straight out of your ___?
or
2) Is it possible that reduced claims are not the result of better health, but rather the result of the fact that employees have instead chosen to forego proper medical care because they CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THE HIGH DEDUCTIBLE?
____________________________________________
Why, you may ask, did I 'bury the lead' on this post? Why start a rant about my employer with comments about the newspaper?
Because it's not a rant about the employer. It's a rant about shoddy reporting. A CEO's job is basically to get as much out of his workers for as little cost as possible, while spinning it with positive publicity. So our CEO did a stellar job, ____ though he may be.
The reporter's job is not to just print whatever self-serving load of ____ the CEO hands out. He's supposed to actually verify it.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Inspired By Leonard's Losers
The Final Four for the Anti-National Championship is now set. Only one team can be the anti-national champion. Only one team can ultimately be the first in a chain of losses all the way to the title game.
Lots of teams (32, to be exact) lose in the round of 64. At that point all 32 still have dreams of becoming the anti-national champion. But sixteen of those teams are eliminated the opening weekend, as the team that beat them wins another game. For the other sixteen, the ones whose conquerors are immediately conquered in turn, the dream stays alive.
It's a longshot for even the worst of tournament teams. To lose to a team that then loses to a team that then loses to another, which then loses in the elite eight to a team that loses in the semi-finals to a team which loses in the national championship... well, it can only be done by one team.
But now we are down to four. And WHAT A FOUR they are. Who could have predicted that not a single 11 seed (the most likely, statistically) would remain. The 11 seeds have the easy path to reach the Anti-Final Four- all they have to do is lose to a 6, who loses to a 3, who loses to a 2, who loses to a 1. No upsets required.
But one by one, the 11's slipped up and refused to go down in flames. Marquette and Gonzaga bowed out of the anti-tournament early, winning convincingly in the first round. VCU, who was perhaps the favorite to win the anti-tournament, not only didn't lose in the first round, they also didn't lose in the next round, or the sweet sixteen. Then they even didn't lose in the regional finals.
That left Missouri alone among the 11's; they alone stood up tall to be knocked down by Cincinnati in the first round. They still looked appropriately weak as Cincy fell to UConn. But their dreams were dashed as UConn refused to fall to San Diego State, leaving the anti-tournamet wide open.
So who remains?
* Indiana State would seem, at first glance, to be the favorite. They fell handily to Syracuse, who immediately lost to that stubborn refuse-to-be-a-loser Marquette, who then finally fell flat on their face against North Carolina, who promptly lost to Kentucky.
The Sycamores have a solid shot at losing it all. However, they must hope that the suddenly red-hot Kentucky Wildcats cool off enough to lose to UConn, who most in turn lose to either Butler or the seriously under-overachieving (over-underachieving?) Virginia Commonwealth.
*The unmighty Tennessee Vols still have a legitimate shot. They seemed poised for an early exit from the anti-tournament, but their program fell into disarray at just the right time, losing to Michigan, who lost to Duke, who scored a spectacular failure against Arizona, who then fell against the UConn Huskies. But for the Vols to lose it all the path runs through Kentucky and then either Butler or VCU.
*The St. John's Red Storm failed impressively in the opening round, routed by Gonzaga. They then took advantage of their position, which was in effect the taking over of Gonzaga's original 11 seed, as the Zags lost to 3 BYU who lost to 2 Florida, who then pulled off the anti-upset by losing to 8 seed Butler, securing St. John's a place in the unvaunted anti four.
From here the Red Storm's path is bright, as all they need is a Butler loss to a hot VCU squad, and then a VCU loss to either of the top remaining seeds, UConn or Kentucky.
*Finally, we have perhaps the most unlikey contender for ultimate loser, the Louisville Cardinals. Unlikely, but convincing. The Cards scored an upset flame-out against lowly Morehead State, who then fell in a route to the Richmond Spiders, who were then destroyed by Kansas. Kansas then came through with a meltdown of massive proportions against VCU.
Now all that stands in the Cards' way is the possibility of VCU knocking off Butler, or of Butler winning two more times.
It can certainly happen, but the Ville (note: that is local vernacular for a school in the city of Louisville whose players are unaware that more than one town name ends in the letters v-i-l-l-e) is now a prohibitive favorite.
Go Cards! If they lose I think we should get Rick a trophy.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Various Unimportant Things
Last weekend Ron had us over to grill and play some cornhole.
When I arrived he and Jim were standing by the grill. Jim was munching on a bag of carrots and sharing them with Ron. I deposited my cooler and joined them, and accepted a carrot, too, when it was offered. We talked, ate carrots, talked some more... and suddenly I thought, and said aloud "Hey, didn't these carrots used to be beers? When did we grow so tame that we actually stand around a grill munching carrots?"
But they were good carrots.
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There should be a law against having to clear snow off the car in late March.
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Early this afternoon and again tonight I was cleaning up a little bit. I threw out some things, too. It started small- old magazines, a couple of boxes I decided I didn't need to hold on to. Then old phone books- turns out I had 9 old phone books. Amazing. Then an old comforter that I haven't used for a couple of years and finally decided was not quite good enough to keep. Then a very old sweatshirt, a very old pair of tennis shoes, a whole armful of ratty tee shirts and shorts. Then a couple more boxes. Then the sheets and pillow cases right off my bed, as I had decided when I put them on the bed last week that they were on their last cycle and not to be washed again.
As I tossed the sheets I noticed the dumpster had really filled up with all my waste. How had I managed to accumulate all that crap? I haven't even lived here that all that long.
But tonight I'm sleeping on brand new sheets. Always a good feeling. Like being in a nice hotel, except without all the disgusting invisible stuff.
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A basketball officiating call I've never understood: Why is a foul on an alley-oop dunk attempt called a shooting foul? Why is it two shots? If the offensive player is fouled before he's even got the ball in his hands, how can he possibly be 'in the act of shooting?'
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Early in the basketball season I really liked Kentucky's team. They were fun to watch and seemed like they'd become pretty good. Then from November to February they didn't seem to improve at all. They were hard to watch. I often turned off the television (or computer) and turned on the radio, since I wanted to follow the games but they were so ugly I couldn't bare to see them.
Then suddenly they got quite a bit better for about 4 or 5 games. Then suddenly they got a lot better than that. Baffling. But I love it. The whole team's playing great defense and they're taking turns being The Man on offense.
And Josh Harrellson has become my favorite UK player ever. He was already close, but now he's tops. It must be an every 15 year thing, because Kyle Macy was my favorite from the late 70's until Tony Delk arrived mid-90's, now Jorts has passed him up on my list.
When I arrived he and Jim were standing by the grill. Jim was munching on a bag of carrots and sharing them with Ron. I deposited my cooler and joined them, and accepted a carrot, too, when it was offered. We talked, ate carrots, talked some more... and suddenly I thought, and said aloud "Hey, didn't these carrots used to be beers? When did we grow so tame that we actually stand around a grill munching carrots?"
But they were good carrots.
_____________________________________
There should be a law against having to clear snow off the car in late March.
_____________________________________
Early this afternoon and again tonight I was cleaning up a little bit. I threw out some things, too. It started small- old magazines, a couple of boxes I decided I didn't need to hold on to. Then old phone books- turns out I had 9 old phone books. Amazing. Then an old comforter that I haven't used for a couple of years and finally decided was not quite good enough to keep. Then a very old sweatshirt, a very old pair of tennis shoes, a whole armful of ratty tee shirts and shorts. Then a couple more boxes. Then the sheets and pillow cases right off my bed, as I had decided when I put them on the bed last week that they were on their last cycle and not to be washed again.
As I tossed the sheets I noticed the dumpster had really filled up with all my waste. How had I managed to accumulate all that crap? I haven't even lived here that all that long.
But tonight I'm sleeping on brand new sheets. Always a good feeling. Like being in a nice hotel, except without all the disgusting invisible stuff.
_____________________________________
A basketball officiating call I've never understood: Why is a foul on an alley-oop dunk attempt called a shooting foul? Why is it two shots? If the offensive player is fouled before he's even got the ball in his hands, how can he possibly be 'in the act of shooting?'
_____________________________________
Early in the basketball season I really liked Kentucky's team. They were fun to watch and seemed like they'd become pretty good. Then from November to February they didn't seem to improve at all. They were hard to watch. I often turned off the television (or computer) and turned on the radio, since I wanted to follow the games but they were so ugly I couldn't bare to see them.
Then suddenly they got quite a bit better for about 4 or 5 games. Then suddenly they got a lot better than that. Baffling. But I love it. The whole team's playing great defense and they're taking turns being The Man on offense.
And Josh Harrellson has become my favorite UK player ever. He was already close, but now he's tops. It must be an every 15 year thing, because Kyle Macy was my favorite from the late 70's until Tony Delk arrived mid-90's, now Jorts has passed him up on my list.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Just watched the end of Georgetown's 1984 Final Four win over Kentucky. Much like recently when Brian said he worried about Travis Ford's hamstring injury of 15 years ago, I found myself quickly invested in the game.
In my case I was wishing Master or Blackmon or Harden would hit a 3-pointer and get a comeback started. Then I realized there were no 3-pointers for three more years.
Billy Packer was intolerable, I thought. But I watched him broadcast games for another 25 years, so I guess I could tolerate him. Barely.
If I was a whatever kind of scientist/psychologist/something technical that studies brains, I believe this type of thing would be interesting to study. Why do sports fans get anxious watching a rerun of a game when they already know the outcome? Why do the suspenseful aspects of some movies or books still work even if I've seen them before and know how they end?
And yet some movies are incredibly suspenseful the first time but don't work for repeated viewings. The Exorcist is still scary to me, though I know what's going to happen. However, I find a second viewing of The Sixth Sense to be very pedestrian. It worked great the first time, but not the second.
What's the difference? Somebody needs to get a federal grant, spend a few hundred thousand dollars hooking electrodes up to college students, and make them watch old playoff games and thriller movies, and then explain it to me. Maybe they can tell me why I get anxious about whether the Allies can halt the German advance during the Battle of the Bulge.
At least now that VCRs are out-dated I no longer have to worry about the weather warnings. Now that I don't watch those old tapes I no longer fall for the two-year old tornado warnings or blizzards.
In my case I was wishing Master or Blackmon or Harden would hit a 3-pointer and get a comeback started. Then I realized there were no 3-pointers for three more years.
Billy Packer was intolerable, I thought. But I watched him broadcast games for another 25 years, so I guess I could tolerate him. Barely.
If I was a whatever kind of scientist/psychologist/something technical that studies brains, I believe this type of thing would be interesting to study. Why do sports fans get anxious watching a rerun of a game when they already know the outcome? Why do the suspenseful aspects of some movies or books still work even if I've seen them before and know how they end?
And yet some movies are incredibly suspenseful the first time but don't work for repeated viewings. The Exorcist is still scary to me, though I know what's going to happen. However, I find a second viewing of The Sixth Sense to be very pedestrian. It worked great the first time, but not the second.
What's the difference? Somebody needs to get a federal grant, spend a few hundred thousand dollars hooking electrodes up to college students, and make them watch old playoff games and thriller movies, and then explain it to me. Maybe they can tell me why I get anxious about whether the Allies can halt the German advance during the Battle of the Bulge.
At least now that VCRs are out-dated I no longer have to worry about the weather warnings. Now that I don't watch those old tapes I no longer fall for the two-year old tornado warnings or blizzards.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I'm not 40. I'm close.
But one of my best friends turned 40 today. Happy birthday, Jim.
I went out for a few hours with a fun group of friends to celebrate, then I bailed out early enough to get to work by seven tomorrow morning. The others, less fortunate than myself, have 4 or 5 hours of 'fun' ahead of them.
Again, not my 40th. But one of my best friends since kindergarten is 40. My ex-wife is 40. Good time to reflect on how (or whether) I've changed over the years. So here goes.
(added after the post was written: 40 is young. Not 20-something young, but young, nevertheless. A reflection on aging seems sort of silly coming from a 39 year old, but still, 40 is a milestone age at which people traditionally start to feel 'old.' I joke about it some myself, but I have to admit from the start that I don't really feel old in any way. My body certainly feels like it is aging, but I don't really in any way feel old. But the 40th birthday of a friend with whom I've been friends for 35 years still seems like a good time think about it.)
For starters, I'm home watching basketball rather than out drinking more beer. So I've changed in that way. It's easier to leave a party than it used to be. I was having loads of fun, but I had no problem remembering what tomorrow will feel like if I stayed. I'll count that as growth.
What else has changed?
I'm more mellow than I used to be. I'm every bit as opinionated as ever. Politics, religion, sports, the economy...my knee-jerk reaction is still that I am right and, if you disagree, you are wrong. But I'm generally more willing to keep my opinion to myself. Not always- maybe not even often- but more often than in the past.
I'm just generally more likely to recognize consequences that aren't worth it. Sometimes not as soon as I should, but at least sooner than I used to. For instance, I still post highly opinionated and probably inflammatory comments on this blog, but I often delete those posts within an hour or a day, when just a year or two ago I would have left them.
So the past twenty-plus years have seen my disagreements gradually move from fights to arguments to angry blog posts to polite dissent, which I feel is progress.
I think as people age they move in a consistent direction regarding 'social issues.' They either become more accepting of differing views and of things they disagree with, or less. I'm definitely moving toward the More Accepting end of the spectrum. Not that I don't often think views which are opposite of mine are a load of b.s. I do. But it bothers me less and less and even when I get angry about it the anger doesn't last as long.
I'm about half-way to my average life expectancy, I move even slower than I used to, and I have aches and pains that I didn't used to have, but I still feel very young. So overall, this reflection on aging makes me quite happy. To still feel young and to also recognize with confidence that I am generally a decent, moral person who is gradually becoming (slowly) more decent is sort of reassuring.
I might not ever get to where I'd like to be, but as long as I'm making progress it won't bother me much.
But one of my best friends turned 40 today. Happy birthday, Jim.
I went out for a few hours with a fun group of friends to celebrate, then I bailed out early enough to get to work by seven tomorrow morning. The others, less fortunate than myself, have 4 or 5 hours of 'fun' ahead of them.
Again, not my 40th. But one of my best friends since kindergarten is 40. My ex-wife is 40. Good time to reflect on how (or whether) I've changed over the years. So here goes.
(added after the post was written: 40 is young. Not 20-something young, but young, nevertheless. A reflection on aging seems sort of silly coming from a 39 year old, but still, 40 is a milestone age at which people traditionally start to feel 'old.' I joke about it some myself, but I have to admit from the start that I don't really feel old in any way. My body certainly feels like it is aging, but I don't really in any way feel old. But the 40th birthday of a friend with whom I've been friends for 35 years still seems like a good time think about it.)
For starters, I'm home watching basketball rather than out drinking more beer. So I've changed in that way. It's easier to leave a party than it used to be. I was having loads of fun, but I had no problem remembering what tomorrow will feel like if I stayed. I'll count that as growth.
What else has changed?
I'm more mellow than I used to be. I'm every bit as opinionated as ever. Politics, religion, sports, the economy...my knee-jerk reaction is still that I am right and, if you disagree, you are wrong. But I'm generally more willing to keep my opinion to myself. Not always- maybe not even often- but more often than in the past.
I'm just generally more likely to recognize consequences that aren't worth it. Sometimes not as soon as I should, but at least sooner than I used to. For instance, I still post highly opinionated and probably inflammatory comments on this blog, but I often delete those posts within an hour or a day, when just a year or two ago I would have left them.
So the past twenty-plus years have seen my disagreements gradually move from fights to arguments to angry blog posts to polite dissent, which I feel is progress.
I think as people age they move in a consistent direction regarding 'social issues.' They either become more accepting of differing views and of things they disagree with, or less. I'm definitely moving toward the More Accepting end of the spectrum. Not that I don't often think views which are opposite of mine are a load of b.s. I do. But it bothers me less and less and even when I get angry about it the anger doesn't last as long.
I'm about half-way to my average life expectancy, I move even slower than I used to, and I have aches and pains that I didn't used to have, but I still feel very young. So overall, this reflection on aging makes me quite happy. To still feel young and to also recognize with confidence that I am generally a decent, moral person who is gradually becoming (slowly) more decent is sort of reassuring.
I might not ever get to where I'd like to be, but as long as I'm making progress it won't bother me much.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bracket Man Is Here To Lead You To Fame And Fortune
After my glorious victory in 2010 (1 nice jackpot win out of 3 entered, raising my career total to 1 nice jackpot win out of about 100 entered), it's only fair that I point my loyal readers in the right direction.
I certainly haven't filled out my brackets yet. No matter, as I wasn't going to spoon-feed you the correct answers anyway. I'm just going to provide some brilliant insight. Do with it what you will.
I'm following roughly the same strategy I followed last year, as it was a new one for me and it worked. That strategy is: ignore all basketball which I have watched this season, and go strictly by the numbers.
First up, the local teams.
My Kentucky Wildcats stack up a lot better than I thought. In fact, according to the numbers I use (secret stats available only to myself and the select few others with access to ESPN.com or CBSsports.com or NCAA.com or a USA Today, or presumably USAtoday.com), Kentucky looks fantastic. Like a borderline #1 or #2 seed. But noooo, apparently the NCAA selection committee uses silly things like wins and losses to determine seeding. Be that as it may, Kentucky looks good. I don't expect them to fall the first weekend, and I can't say I believed that most of the year. I can't predict they'll get past Ohio State, but I haven't ruled it out yet.
Louisville, too, looks good to make the 2nd weekend. I actually think they got a lousy draw with Morehead State in the first round, but they'll squeak by. And Vandy is a good 5 seed match up for the Cards. Then Kansas.
Three potential Cinderellas
Utah State
Washington
Florida State
Five likely to bow out earlier than seeding indicates:
Notre Dame
BYU
Wisconsin
San Diego State
Cincinnati
Four good first round games:
7 Texas A&M vs 10 Florida State
6 St. John's vs 11 Gonzaga
6 Cincinnati vs 11 Missouri
5 Kansas State vs 12 Utah State
Conference most likely to disappoint: Easy, it's the Big East. I say they'll have 4 or 5 of the Sweet 16. Not bad at all, but when you start with 11 teams, and 10 of the top 36 seeds, and you are supposedly the best conference in the history of anywhere ever in the known galaxy, you should probably do better.
There. That was long-winded and fun (for me, if not for you).
I certainly haven't filled out my brackets yet. No matter, as I wasn't going to spoon-feed you the correct answers anyway. I'm just going to provide some brilliant insight. Do with it what you will.
I'm following roughly the same strategy I followed last year, as it was a new one for me and it worked. That strategy is: ignore all basketball which I have watched this season, and go strictly by the numbers.
First up, the local teams.
My Kentucky Wildcats stack up a lot better than I thought. In fact, according to the numbers I use (secret stats available only to myself and the select few others with access to ESPN.com or CBSsports.com or NCAA.com or a USA Today, or presumably USAtoday.com), Kentucky looks fantastic. Like a borderline #1 or #2 seed. But noooo, apparently the NCAA selection committee uses silly things like wins and losses to determine seeding. Be that as it may, Kentucky looks good. I don't expect them to fall the first weekend, and I can't say I believed that most of the year. I can't predict they'll get past Ohio State, but I haven't ruled it out yet.
Louisville, too, looks good to make the 2nd weekend. I actually think they got a lousy draw with Morehead State in the first round, but they'll squeak by. And Vandy is a good 5 seed match up for the Cards. Then Kansas.
Three potential Cinderellas
Utah State
Washington
Florida State
Five likely to bow out earlier than seeding indicates:
Notre Dame
BYU
Wisconsin
San Diego State
Cincinnati
Four good first round games:
7 Texas A&M vs 10 Florida State
6 St. John's vs 11 Gonzaga
6 Cincinnati vs 11 Missouri
5 Kansas State vs 12 Utah State
Conference most likely to disappoint: Easy, it's the Big East. I say they'll have 4 or 5 of the Sweet 16. Not bad at all, but when you start with 11 teams, and 10 of the top 36 seeds, and you are supposedly the best conference in the history of anywhere ever in the known galaxy, you should probably do better.
There. That was long-winded and fun (for me, if not for you).
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
After work this evening I detoured through the park hoping to view some interesting flooding. I more than half-expected I would need to turn around without getting very far- most likely no farther than near the 8th tee of Seneca GC.
But though the waters were high and rapid, Beargrass Creek was still within its banks as of 5:00, to the dismay (I assume) of the Wave 3 reporter stationed in the Big Rock parking lot.
I finished reading Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. Quite a good book. It's the first Philip Roth work I've read, and as he's quite prolific I am excited to have a new source of reading material.
It is an alternate history narrative, told from the point of view of a nine year old Jewish boy in Newark, New Jersey. The premise is Charles Lindbergh defeats FDR in the 1940 election and then makes a pact with Nazi Germany that keeps the U.S. out of WWII. Lots of not very fun hijinks ensue.
Throughout my reading I turned constantly to the internet to read up on real national figures woven into the story. There were lots of them, so I'm now better informed about Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Burton Wheeler, Father Coughlin, Fiorello LaGaurdia, and a few more.
Since many of the principal antagonists were real historical figures, and since most of these people weren't so clearly or completely evil in real life, I was at times uncomfortable with the story. At other times, though, I was uncomfortable with how easily it could all have been true.
Also, Louisville and Kentucky featured prominently and not very glowingly, which I didn't like. However, I think this was more for plot convenience than anything else. The boy's father praised Louis Brandeis and his Louisville roots early in the story, and thus Louisville was effective as a principal scene for negative stuff later. Plus Louisville is just a good representative for middle America.
This is my first post using my new little notebook computer. I'm not adept with the smaller keyboard yet. How does everybody manage with the tiny little keys on their smart phones? I can't even handle this relatively larger keyboard. If I don't improve I suspect I'll go back to using my man-sized computer for future posts.
Life in Lilliput sure is hard.
But though the waters were high and rapid, Beargrass Creek was still within its banks as of 5:00, to the dismay (I assume) of the Wave 3 reporter stationed in the Big Rock parking lot.
I finished reading Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. Quite a good book. It's the first Philip Roth work I've read, and as he's quite prolific I am excited to have a new source of reading material.
It is an alternate history narrative, told from the point of view of a nine year old Jewish boy in Newark, New Jersey. The premise is Charles Lindbergh defeats FDR in the 1940 election and then makes a pact with Nazi Germany that keeps the U.S. out of WWII. Lots of not very fun hijinks ensue.
Throughout my reading I turned constantly to the internet to read up on real national figures woven into the story. There were lots of them, so I'm now better informed about Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Burton Wheeler, Father Coughlin, Fiorello LaGaurdia, and a few more.
Since many of the principal antagonists were real historical figures, and since most of these people weren't so clearly or completely evil in real life, I was at times uncomfortable with the story. At other times, though, I was uncomfortable with how easily it could all have been true.
Also, Louisville and Kentucky featured prominently and not very glowingly, which I didn't like. However, I think this was more for plot convenience than anything else. The boy's father praised Louis Brandeis and his Louisville roots early in the story, and thus Louisville was effective as a principal scene for negative stuff later. Plus Louisville is just a good representative for middle America.
This is my first post using my new little notebook computer. I'm not adept with the smaller keyboard yet. How does everybody manage with the tiny little keys on their smart phones? I can't even handle this relatively larger keyboard. If I don't improve I suspect I'll go back to using my man-sized computer for future posts.
Life in Lilliput sure is hard.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Almost that time of year again...
The Yogis softball banquet last weekend was fun, as usual.
As is customary, we used a brief amount of time pre-party to take care of some business and give out awards. Among the decisions is where and when to play. This season looks like Monday nights at the Lyndon Elks, and Wednesdays at St. Martha.
I regretfully said no to a Tuesday night cornhole league. There will be numerous Yogis playing in it since this is the first year in at least a decade and a half that we won't be playing softball on Tuesdays. But as I'm playing in another softball league on Sundays, I thought it best not to commit myself to 4 nights in a row.
Honestly, I'd prefer two nights of softball and one night of cornhole. However, I reasoned that at this point my softball-playing years are much more limited than my cornhole-playing years. I'll have plenty of time for cornhole when I'm even older and more decrepit than I am now.
As is customary, we used a brief amount of time pre-party to take care of some business and give out awards. Among the decisions is where and when to play. This season looks like Monday nights at the Lyndon Elks, and Wednesdays at St. Martha.
I regretfully said no to a Tuesday night cornhole league. There will be numerous Yogis playing in it since this is the first year in at least a decade and a half that we won't be playing softball on Tuesdays. But as I'm playing in another softball league on Sundays, I thought it best not to commit myself to 4 nights in a row.
Honestly, I'd prefer two nights of softball and one night of cornhole. However, I reasoned that at this point my softball-playing years are much more limited than my cornhole-playing years. I'll have plenty of time for cornhole when I'm even older and more decrepit than I am now.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
What a weird dream.
I dreamt I was cooking dinner, suddenly realized I was out of sunscreen (I didn't need it for the dinner. It was just a completely unrelated thought) and needed to go get some. I briefly contemplated waiting until after I ate. Then, realizing I was also out of silverware, I left right away.
But then my dream flitted to me eating dinner, and then again to cooking dinner at the point where I needed sunscreen and then again deciding to go get some...and the dream sort of looped a couple of times before I set out.
It was late at night. I couldn't decide whether to walk to Walgreens or to some now-vague other store which was a lot farther away, but which made sense at the time.
I set out in a random direction, planting each footfall carefully as I walked, so as to avoid stumbling, because it was pitch dark. My hands were outstretched to avoid bumping into anything.
Then I tried running. Running in the dark was thrilling. Then I said to myself, hey, this is stupid. Running in the dark is a great way to get hurt. Then I ran some more (a therapist would have a field day with this dream).
I quickly got lost. There were small scrubby trees and bushes, lots of rocks and boulders. There was very little grass, but lots of thick sandy dirt. I felt like I should know where I was. I kept telling myself that if only it were light enough I would surely spot a landmark I recognized.
I found it quite amusing. I was exasperated and angry that I couldn't get my bearings, but at the same time I thought it was pretty funny.
And-as in many of my dreams- I kept looping back to previous segments, or jumping forward again to some other portion, as if I were using the 'scene select' option on my dream DVD player. Thus I'd be proceeding slowly, groping my way, then I'd be back in the kitchen, then running in the dark, in the kitchen again, then running again, and so on.
Every so often I would pass under a street light which illuminated my surroundings enough that I could almost make out something I almost recognized in the distance, but I had to leave the light to see it more clearly and then I was lost again. I have no idea where the street lights came from, because I wasn't on a street. But the lights were there and made perfect sense.
The landmarks I almost recognized were pretty weird, too. At one point I thought I saw the now-defunct Arby's which was at Shelbyville Rd/Hubbards Ln. I remember walking towards it and thinking I'd run into either it or the (also closed) ice cream place across the street.
I don't remember what else I thought I recognized, but it seems they were mostly local. At the same time, though, there were no actual streets, just dirt and boulders and shrubs, and I remember being careful to avoid any cacti, though I never saw or felt a single cactus. It was like I was lost on the Llano Estacado but it was in Louisville.
Then I woke up.
When I woke I realized that the dream also had a soundtrack of a single song, and I'd really liked the song a lot, but I couldn't quite place what the song was.
I racked my brain trying to figure it out, but the details were very sketchy. Female singer- maybe Rosanne Cash? The longer I thought about it the sketchier it became, until I lost the tune, the voice, the beat, everything. Now I'm not even sure it was a song I'd ever heard before, or if I even heard it in the dream.
Strange.
I don't know anything about dream interpretation. If I had to take a stab I'd say it means 1) I feel lost, and 2)I've read too much Cormac McCarthy lately and need to read something that's not set in the Texas/New Mexico/Mexico desert.
But I don't feel particularly lost, and I've just about run through all McCarthy's novels already anyway, so I'm not sure how helpful the dream was.
I dreamt I was cooking dinner, suddenly realized I was out of sunscreen (I didn't need it for the dinner. It was just a completely unrelated thought) and needed to go get some. I briefly contemplated waiting until after I ate. Then, realizing I was also out of silverware, I left right away.
But then my dream flitted to me eating dinner, and then again to cooking dinner at the point where I needed sunscreen and then again deciding to go get some...and the dream sort of looped a couple of times before I set out.
It was late at night. I couldn't decide whether to walk to Walgreens or to some now-vague other store which was a lot farther away, but which made sense at the time.
I set out in a random direction, planting each footfall carefully as I walked, so as to avoid stumbling, because it was pitch dark. My hands were outstretched to avoid bumping into anything.
Then I tried running. Running in the dark was thrilling. Then I said to myself, hey, this is stupid. Running in the dark is a great way to get hurt. Then I ran some more (a therapist would have a field day with this dream).
I quickly got lost. There were small scrubby trees and bushes, lots of rocks and boulders. There was very little grass, but lots of thick sandy dirt. I felt like I should know where I was. I kept telling myself that if only it were light enough I would surely spot a landmark I recognized.
I found it quite amusing. I was exasperated and angry that I couldn't get my bearings, but at the same time I thought it was pretty funny.
And-as in many of my dreams- I kept looping back to previous segments, or jumping forward again to some other portion, as if I were using the 'scene select' option on my dream DVD player. Thus I'd be proceeding slowly, groping my way, then I'd be back in the kitchen, then running in the dark, in the kitchen again, then running again, and so on.
Every so often I would pass under a street light which illuminated my surroundings enough that I could almost make out something I almost recognized in the distance, but I had to leave the light to see it more clearly and then I was lost again. I have no idea where the street lights came from, because I wasn't on a street. But the lights were there and made perfect sense.
The landmarks I almost recognized were pretty weird, too. At one point I thought I saw the now-defunct Arby's which was at Shelbyville Rd/Hubbards Ln. I remember walking towards it and thinking I'd run into either it or the (also closed) ice cream place across the street.
I don't remember what else I thought I recognized, but it seems they were mostly local. At the same time, though, there were no actual streets, just dirt and boulders and shrubs, and I remember being careful to avoid any cacti, though I never saw or felt a single cactus. It was like I was lost on the Llano Estacado but it was in Louisville.
Then I woke up.
When I woke I realized that the dream also had a soundtrack of a single song, and I'd really liked the song a lot, but I couldn't quite place what the song was.
I racked my brain trying to figure it out, but the details were very sketchy. Female singer- maybe Rosanne Cash? The longer I thought about it the sketchier it became, until I lost the tune, the voice, the beat, everything. Now I'm not even sure it was a song I'd ever heard before, or if I even heard it in the dream.
Strange.
I don't know anything about dream interpretation. If I had to take a stab I'd say it means 1) I feel lost, and 2)I've read too much Cormac McCarthy lately and need to read something that's not set in the Texas/New Mexico/Mexico desert.
But I don't feel particularly lost, and I've just about run through all McCarthy's novels already anyway, so I'm not sure how helpful the dream was.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I've been trying to avoid political topics. I have generally been unsuccessful.
I think I've mentioned unions before, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, I'm extremely pro-union. Boiled down to a nutshell, my basic belief is that the long struggle of organized labor is responsible for ending all sorts of very bad things- slave wages, dreadfully unsafe conditions, unbearably long hours, etc. etc. And the long, slow end of organized labor has pretty much correlated to a long, slow decline back into all of the above conditions.
People I speak with mostly seem to think I'm ridiculous for believing the end of unions will mean sinking back into the same conditions once described so colorfully by Upton Sinclair. I say "Of course it will lead to that. It already is leading to that. Duh!" Sure, conditions aren't nearly so dreadful at the moment. But the peak has already been reached and workers are definitely heading back down the hill.
And it's amazing how fast the fall may come once a little speed is built up.
Why wouldn't it lead to that? Because government regulation will prevent it? Without unions, who is going to make sure government regulations are enforced? Or make sure these regulations even stay on the books?
I've just been thinking about that a lot the last few days because of the stuff in Wisconsin. I'm especially galled by the argument that union workers have nothing to complain about because "they make more than me, they pay a lower percentage of their health care than me, they have it better than me..."
Well duh! again. Why is that an argument against unions? It sounds to me to be more of argument to get your ass into a union.
I think I've mentioned unions before, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, I'm extremely pro-union. Boiled down to a nutshell, my basic belief is that the long struggle of organized labor is responsible for ending all sorts of very bad things- slave wages, dreadfully unsafe conditions, unbearably long hours, etc. etc. And the long, slow end of organized labor has pretty much correlated to a long, slow decline back into all of the above conditions.
People I speak with mostly seem to think I'm ridiculous for believing the end of unions will mean sinking back into the same conditions once described so colorfully by Upton Sinclair. I say "Of course it will lead to that. It already is leading to that. Duh!" Sure, conditions aren't nearly so dreadful at the moment. But the peak has already been reached and workers are definitely heading back down the hill.
And it's amazing how fast the fall may come once a little speed is built up.
Why wouldn't it lead to that? Because government regulation will prevent it? Without unions, who is going to make sure government regulations are enforced? Or make sure these regulations even stay on the books?
I've just been thinking about that a lot the last few days because of the stuff in Wisconsin. I'm especially galled by the argument that union workers have nothing to complain about because "they make more than me, they pay a lower percentage of their health care than me, they have it better than me..."
Well duh! again. Why is that an argument against unions? It sounds to me to be more of argument to get your ass into a union.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A Nonnet for Valentine's Day
Why a nonnet? Why nonnot?
My Valentine? Poor dear, she was hit
Once or thrice by an ugly stick
And now she’s hard to look at.
And the kids? Well you see,
Ugli fruit drops down
To ground beneath
The humble
Ugli
Trees.
My Valentine? Poor dear, she was hit
Once or thrice by an ugly stick
And now she’s hard to look at.
And the kids? Well you see,
Ugli fruit drops down
To ground beneath
The humble
Ugli
Trees.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Look, I imagine I'd enjoy kicking and beating Anderson Cooper as much as the next man, but aren't things getting a little out of hand?
Can't we send Mitch McConnell over there or something? To, you know, just sort of wander around the square and ask people to calm down. I'm sure it would work out fine- one way or the other.
Or maybe Glenn Beck could set up a chalk board in downtown Cairo and diagram what the protesters are doing wrong. I'm sure it would be appreciated.
What a mess. I can't remember the last time I was so fascinated by the news. There certainly have been other huge news stories in my lifetime, but I don't believe any of them had such a sustained 'I wonder what will happen next, because it could be just about anything' aspect to it.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
*I had a bad cold, but I'm feeling quite a lot better now. Just a little bit of lingering crud.
However, this past week was pretty miserable. Last Sunday night I had such a nasty coughing fit that I strained a muscle in my rib cage. It was bad enough that for two or three days the only way it didn't hurt was if I lay flat on my back.
The biggest problem with that was the conflict with the fact that the only way I didn't cough a lot was if I was sitting straight up. It was my own little Middle-East crisis with no resolution.
Much like in geo-politics, I used various half-measures and compromises which satisfied no one and treated the symptoms instead of the underlying causes, and hoped the problem would go away.
*When I got up this morning I decided to check in on Facebook for a few moments and see what everyone has been up to. The little icons that show who else is on line showed that Dad was the only one. I'm pretty sure that means I got up too early on a Sunday morning.
*Friday night I was pedaling away on my exercise bike and watching a Planet Earth episode when Erin called to sell me cookies. For some reason, even though Kim's number is programmed in my phone the caller wasn't indentified, and I didn't recognize the number. The combination of the loud television, and my exercising and panting for breath made it quite an uphill challenge for someone with a quiet phone voice like Erin to identify herself. I said "hello" and "what" a few times, couldn't hear anyone distinctly, and so concluded by telling the caller she must have the wrong number.
So, sorry Erin. Some cookie customers are tougher sales than others, and I proved to be one tough cookie.
However, this past week was pretty miserable. Last Sunday night I had such a nasty coughing fit that I strained a muscle in my rib cage. It was bad enough that for two or three days the only way it didn't hurt was if I lay flat on my back.
The biggest problem with that was the conflict with the fact that the only way I didn't cough a lot was if I was sitting straight up. It was my own little Middle-East crisis with no resolution.
Much like in geo-politics, I used various half-measures and compromises which satisfied no one and treated the symptoms instead of the underlying causes, and hoped the problem would go away.
*When I got up this morning I decided to check in on Facebook for a few moments and see what everyone has been up to. The little icons that show who else is on line showed that Dad was the only one. I'm pretty sure that means I got up too early on a Sunday morning.
*Friday night I was pedaling away on my exercise bike and watching a Planet Earth episode when Erin called to sell me cookies. For some reason, even though Kim's number is programmed in my phone the caller wasn't indentified, and I didn't recognize the number. The combination of the loud television, and my exercising and panting for breath made it quite an uphill challenge for someone with a quiet phone voice like Erin to identify herself. I said "hello" and "what" a few times, couldn't hear anyone distinctly, and so concluded by telling the caller she must have the wrong number.
So, sorry Erin. Some cookie customers are tougher sales than others, and I proved to be one tough cookie.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
I listened to a lot of Paul Simon this week. Also, I have a bad cold. That should be enough explanation.
Hello Nyquil my old friend,
I'm going to guzzle you again,
Because mucus softly creeping,
Is keeping me from sleeping,
And the clogging is affecting my brain,
It will not drain,
And my cough is hacking.
In restless dreams I snort and moan,
And grunt and sneeze and groan,
I need it dark so I dim the lamp,
Blankets keep out the cold and damp,
Unshowered, I'm sure I am a ghastly sight,
I hope I make it through the night,
And my cough is hacking.
And in the naked light I saw,
Ten thousand Kleenex maybe more,
I can't breathe without wheezing,
I can't talk without rasping,
I'm full of germs that I really should not share,
So don't come near,
And my cough is hacking.
______________________________
Still two full verses to parody but eh, you get the idea.
I think it's pretty funny but I might be wrong. Is there alcohol in Nyquil?
Friday, January 14, 2011
I had to visit a funeral home tonight, which of course led to the approximately twice-annual crisis of "Whoops, I still don't have a new suit, or at least jacket and shirt that fit."
So I hereby resolve to get right on that. Again.
Good news is my old jacket fits much better now than it did just a couple months ago, but I still need a new one.
The visit was for the passing of Mary Yates, the mother/mother-in-law/grandmother of quite a few of my friends. When I totaled it up I was amazed by how many of her descendents and their spouses and in-laws are my friends.
So I hereby resolve to get right on that. Again.
Good news is my old jacket fits much better now than it did just a couple months ago, but I still need a new one.
The visit was for the passing of Mary Yates, the mother/mother-in-law/grandmother of quite a few of my friends. When I totaled it up I was amazed by how many of her descendents and their spouses and in-laws are my friends.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
2010 ended well and 2011 is off to a good start.
I ended the year with a fun round of golf at Quail Chase. I had two cracks at my best nine of the year on the last day of the year. It didn't take much-my best nine was 45. The front nine all I needed was a bogey, but I triple-bogeyed thanks to a stupid decision (if it takes longer than 2 seconds to decide whether you can make it through a gap in the trees, the correct answer is NO.)
The back nine I needed a bogey again. I tripled again, but I plead justifiable distraction. Here's the story:
After finishing on 17 we encountered a golf cart traffic jam before the 18th tee. We saw five carts and nine or ten people all gathered around talking. They were focused on one old man sitting in a cart, and my initial thought was a health problem such as a heart attack or perhaps something less serious.
But when we rode up to check it turned out to be a golf cart accident. Two carts had collided on the crossing paths. The wheels on one cart had been knocked askew. I didn't see it, so I can't really judge, but still....stupid. Carts don't move all that fast, so one or both drivers probably did something very stupid. Anyway, the old man seemed to have injured his arm, but when we asked everyone assured us he was fine, and he really did seem to be okay. And they told us to play through.
We could hear sirens as we teed off on 18. By the time we were in the fairway the sirens were very close, and we joked that they were probably coming to Quail Chase because of the golf cart accident. Then just before I hit my second shot two emergency vehicles rode up the cart path, sirens still blaring. I hit a poor shot. By the time we reached the green two more police cars had also played through.
It was hard to concentrate.
I'm nearly 100% sure the guy was fine. My guess is they called the clubhouse after the accident, and the folks in the clubhouse decided not to take any chances.
2011 began with me doing nothing for several hours, then we went bowling, then several of us decided to go out for dinner at Logan's. I had a delicous steak-and-lobster tail, mainly so that I could say I've eaten lobster every day this year.
I ended the year with a fun round of golf at Quail Chase. I had two cracks at my best nine of the year on the last day of the year. It didn't take much-my best nine was 45. The front nine all I needed was a bogey, but I triple-bogeyed thanks to a stupid decision (if it takes longer than 2 seconds to decide whether you can make it through a gap in the trees, the correct answer is NO.)
The back nine I needed a bogey again. I tripled again, but I plead justifiable distraction. Here's the story:
After finishing on 17 we encountered a golf cart traffic jam before the 18th tee. We saw five carts and nine or ten people all gathered around talking. They were focused on one old man sitting in a cart, and my initial thought was a health problem such as a heart attack or perhaps something less serious.
But when we rode up to check it turned out to be a golf cart accident. Two carts had collided on the crossing paths. The wheels on one cart had been knocked askew. I didn't see it, so I can't really judge, but still....stupid. Carts don't move all that fast, so one or both drivers probably did something very stupid. Anyway, the old man seemed to have injured his arm, but when we asked everyone assured us he was fine, and he really did seem to be okay. And they told us to play through.
We could hear sirens as we teed off on 18. By the time we were in the fairway the sirens were very close, and we joked that they were probably coming to Quail Chase because of the golf cart accident. Then just before I hit my second shot two emergency vehicles rode up the cart path, sirens still blaring. I hit a poor shot. By the time we reached the green two more police cars had also played through.
It was hard to concentrate.
I'm nearly 100% sure the guy was fine. My guess is they called the clubhouse after the accident, and the folks in the clubhouse decided not to take any chances.
2011 began with me doing nothing for several hours, then we went bowling, then several of us decided to go out for dinner at Logan's. I had a delicous steak-and-lobster tail, mainly so that I could say I've eaten lobster every day this year.
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