Dustpan

So my mom had a birthday, and I know she likes to try different things. My wife also is a baseball fan, so I figure, let's do some baseball. The first step was to see if anyone else was playing but the Reds. I checked Florence, I checked Dayton, and the only team with home games matching my schedule were the Reds. Fantastic.

So off we go, and it was a nice evening. We ate at Dismesh which is a new Indian restaurant and much cheaper and lower key than Ambar, but in the same area. My mom likes that spot even though it has failed repeatedly.

Then we go downtown and wander past the lonely abandoned storefronts. We wandered through Oktoberfest which looked kind of dull if you didn't go with your friends to get drunk. Finally we made it to the stadium.

It was a really nice stadium. We looked over the river. The evening was really nice. There was even a whiffle ball game between local mascots: the Princeton Viking, the Bearcat, Datagnon the Xavier Musketeer etc. All in all it was a great evening. Then they had to ruin it by playing Reds baseball.

Let me just say: I am so SICK of Dusty Baker baseball. The man not only screws up, he never learns. Bronson Arroyo pitches into the sixth with only a solo run. That was nice. Then he starts getting weak. He walks a guy, gives up a hit, then he sneaks his way out of it with a double play. Next thing you know he is trotting out into the eighth with a one run lead.

I said it. I could see it happening. I said: "Why is Bronson out in the eighth? Can't he throw in a reliever for one inning before we get to the overpaid closer? Can't he do that for once? Arthur Rhodes is available."

Next thing you know, lead off double, home run, Reds lose. What was that? This needs to stop. Okay, I know the relief pitchers are weak, but past the sixth with a one run lead, and a weakening pitcher? Come on. If you're going to lose, at least do what you're supposed to do. Bronson did his job, don't put this on him. Let the relief crew take the loss, but no...

Next season, Florence Freedom. No Reds. I'm sick of his crap.

This I Believe

I believe in change. I got a call from my father to deal with my pennies. My hobby in high school was collecting pennies. I collected them for three years and brought them with me in a canvas sack for my last week of high school. Then I took them home and left them under my bed where they stayed for nine years.
I didn’t know what to do with those pennies. When I was in high school my capitalist father urged me to wrap and cash them (ignoring the fact that I was trading cash for pennies). My grandmother heard that hoarding causes inflation and urged me to stop my antisocial behavior. Those ideas made no impression on me, and when I went to get the pennies from where my room used to be it wasn’t my idea.
I loved collecting pennies. I started when I was very young. Like most children I associated money with quantity. The more pieces of money I had the richer I was, like Scrooge McDuck diving into his coin vault. It started with breaking down my money into smaller denominations, then only pennies since that was the best way to increase the amount of money I owned.
But it was more than that. Pennies allowed me to reach out in a way that I couldn’t otherwise. Asking people for change gave me a way to approach them. My scary English teacher was happy to give me a cup of pennies from her car (two of which were glued to a cough drop). People in class who I didn’t talk to would hand me change, and while for six years I couldn’t talk to the pretty girl who sat in front of me, I could ask her if she had any pennies.
Now I know that counting pennies doesn’t make you rich. Instead I obsessively track my retirement portfolio. But as I wrapped each roll the feelings came back: who I was, the people I knew, and why it was important. I held onto these pennies for nine years because they were a part of the person I was.
Pennies are a medium of exchange. Their value is what we assign to them. I know that pennies aren’t memories. I know I was miserly to hold onto them for so many years, but as I wrapped them, I remembered the time when I was gathering them together.
I believe that I can change. I believe that the memories in those pennies made me who I am, but holding onto them is a way to hold onto the past without recognizing what it really means. I still don’t feel like letting go, but I must remember I can have the value without the objects. Besides even if I don’t have the pennies, I’ve still got one letter from the pretty girl I never spoke to.

Winter of discontent

So now even my company is starting to feel the pinch. For months they've been talking about how bad things are, but now they seem almost on the verge of considering action. Meanwhile the dollar has dipped below 91 yen.

I was shocked on Friday that the markets held their own, but I think we're on the verge of another plunge into the shithole. I mean there's been nothing but bad news about retail/ unemployment/ manufacturing/ bailouts/ OPEC. What is holding up the markets now? We had drops on less crap than this a few months ago. I'm not even going to mention the B word, because I don't believe it.

Before I had a tree metaphor, but the new one is the flaming bag. This economy is like opening your door to a flaming bag. There it is on fire. Better stamp it out before things get bad. Then you find out: this bag really sucks. It's not just some fire that can be doused and that's the end of it. It's just going to be bad. It's going to stay with you. Shit.

Another Massacre

The markets just don't seem to be getting any better. Interest rates drop around the world, and governments are shoving money at the problem as fast as they can, but somehow things aren't getting better. I have no idea what they should do. I thought they should raise interest rates earlier, but that doesn't help us now. GM, Chrysler and AIG are all on the edge. Circuit City is gone. My grandfather the economist says these companies will recover once the economy picks up again, but how the hell is that going to happen? Housing prices still aren't projected to bottom any time soon. The US consumer has at long last surrendered. No one in the world seems willing to buy anything. The US is fried. China is falling apart. India has never been good for much. Russia is on the verge of going back to autocracy. Western Europe is totally panicking. South America is supposedly better than it was during the last economic collapse, maybe we should all invest there... I just don't know how things are going to get better, and the signs of things getting worse are just frightening. It's like a big tree and every day the guy with the ax is hacking away at the bottom. It can't collapse, right? It just can't right? Even if the companies collapse, the financial system will be okay, right? If not the financials then the governments? If not the governments, at least I'll be okay, right? Right? Frankly, I'm not sure of anything anymore.

Massacre

My god. What a disaster for the Republican Party. When Obama was swollen with pride, I never believed things could look this good. Sure Bush was crap, and had destroyed the party. He'd done that in 2003. If no one cared in 2004 or 2006, why the hell would they care in 2008? But now... Every close race that has been called has fallen to the Democrats. John Sununu? I've heard of that guy... Talk about sweeping the tables. The only thing sweeter would be if people were voting on the foreign policy issues which are still deceptively important.

Pop

So I've been riding my bicycle to work for over a week now. I don't actually like it, but I don't want to acquire another car now. I decided to pump my tires a little more this morning, and I put them up to around 60 psi. Then I headed out, and as I start riding down the road, BAM loud noise in the back. That would be the back tire as I soon confirmed.
Frankly that sucked, but every dark cloud has a silver lining. That meant that I could bum a ride instead od riding in. That actually was kind of nice. The problem is I don't intend on doing it again.
After work I hitched rides to WalMart to buy another tube, and then home. Installing the tube was way easier than I expected, and I pumped her right up. Job done. Problem is the rear tire tread got torn (side effect of when I ripped off the back tube). So the new tube was bulging out like a tumor. I can't very well go to WalMart again, and I don't really want to buy a new tire just yet, so I decided to stitch the tread back together.
Unfortunately my wife left me, and she took the needle and thread with her (or at least put them where I can't find them). Instead I used dental floss for thread, and a toothpick for an awl. It is working so far. We'll see. Friday should be my last bike riding day.
Speaking of bulging tumors, my mouse has a big nasty one. She needs surgery, but I'm too cheap and heartless to give it to her. I honestly feel bad about it, but not bad enough to get it for her. I want her to be well, but it's just can't happen. That sucks. So this has been a hard week, and this has been a hard day. I'll see my wife on Friday, and then I'll take a break, and then I'll be able to borrow a car. Two more days.

Mr. Outspoken Blog

So I was in the grocery store today. The place was packed which was disgusting because I just wanted to get in, buy a sack of white rice and leave. Even the self-checkout had a line. So I grab my rice, come back and look things over. I choose the express lane, cause it actually seems shortest. I look at the lady in front of me, and I think "Her cart is full. There is no way that is less than twenty items. Limit fifteen." So I start counting them. Out loud. About thirteen she noticed and looked around and finally saw the sign. As she wheeled her way out she says "First, that was really rude." She left without coming up with second, and I checked out at least three minutes faster because of it. Now usually isn't that a situation where she should apologize to me?