Monday, January 30, 2017

No Lester, It is not Complicated

Lester Holt of NBC News tonight was summing up happenings surrounding the Trump Regime's recent Muslim Ban order.  He tried to appear neutral in his summation by finishing with and I paraphrase,  "Many in America are upset of this perceived violation of basic human rights, while others are understandably concerned over the threat of terrorism in this country.  It's complicated ....."

No Lester, it is not fucking complicated.  Rather than calling out Trump's obvious manipulation of people's unfounded fears, instead, you feed the flames by intimating the fear has some validity.  You sir are as bad as Fox.  Asshole.

Unfounded fear is unfounded fear and should never be given any consideration other than it is unfounded fear.  Instead of just giving us the news, you are helping to create it and keep the fear at a fever pitch.  You did your viewers a true dis-service tonight and also lost my respect.

Jerkwad ..........................................

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Not Just Another True Story

So I'm cruising around Facebook this AM, not paying attention to what roads I am on.  Come across a post with the image at the right.  Something about Trump being not only the first hybrid of a Pig and a Human, but the first blend of an animal with a human ever.

I don't know about the first one, but I know Trump is not a hybrid of a pig and a human.

........ The true story ........

70 plus years ago in the Bronx, a real estate broker and his wife wanted a child.  Sadly, he and his darling wife could not have children.  He was shooting blanks or she was barren.  Not sure, cuz back then, well, nobody checked, it just depended on who was talking.

Well, this real estate guy knew a guy who knew a guy who was a janitor at the biology building at NYU.  He told them he could fix them right up.  He had been paying attention while sweeping up around the egg heads gazing into microscopes and such.  He just needed a quiet place to get it done.

The real estate broker fixed him up with a locked room in the basement of one of the tenements he owned in Queens.  Bought the supplies and equipment the janitor wanted and the janitor performed his magic.  Before the year was out, the Donald crawled out of that dark tenement basement room.

Real estate dad was at first concerned.  Donald didn't look normal.

The janitor calmed real estate guy down, " Yeah, the hybrids always look a tad odd when they're young.  He'll grow out of it."

Not quite sure about his young son turning out fine, real estate asked why did his son look the way he did.

"You know I couldn't trust yours or your wife's DNA.  And since you were in such a damn hurry, I used what was handy."

"Oh", Real Estate Guy's concern grew.  "And what was handy?"

"Well, I used some DNA of mine and some from a nag's ass I moonlight with on weekends in Central Park ."

"So you're telling me my son is part shit room cleaner and a horse's ass?"

"That about sum's it up.  But fear not, one or the other will become dominant by puberty."

And that is the first and only, though undisclosed until today, successful Human/Horse's Ass to date.

True story.  Add it to your quiver of alternate facts.

Later ......................................................

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Friends

I have been on Facebook maybe a week or so.  In that time I have accumulated some friends and as it turns out, lost some too.  The whole friend thing is odd to me.  Many of my Facebook "friends" are indeed friends from my life story, but many are not.  The concept of calling someone a friend or not a friend based on bandwidth swapped back and forth is a hard concept for me to get my head around.

I consider the folks who have been consistent in their visits to my blog as friends.  That took some time however.  It did not happen with the request button at one end and the accept button at the other. I figure I will accept a friend request from anyone, but reserve the right to not consider them friends, but more as folks I exchange words and ideas with.

I haven't paid attention to my "friend count". I know it is higher than when I gave FB another chance a week or so ago.  I have no idea who has "unfirended" me, with the exception of one fellow from my high school days who took the time to send me a message that he was indeed "unfriending" me and why.

It was not that we are politically opposed to each other, though we are definitely on opposing sides.  It was because I somehow was able to place a comment on one of his other friend's pages that apparently was not held in high regard.  Remember, we don't look at the world through the same rose colored glasses.

First of all, the offending comment was nothing to get panties in a bunch.  I just disagreed with the circle jerk this crew was having while they beat up on Liberals.  I was accused of bypassing some FB filter and intruding on their choir practice.  Please.  I barely know how to navigate from the home page to my page.  The post I responded to was in front of me so I responded.

Regardless, I do appreciate that this fellow gave me his reasons for casting me into his unfriended pile.  But not because I would then be heart broken I had lost a friend on Facebook.  It was just the polite thing to do as he saw it, and I respect that.

Which brings me to my point.

The word "friend" like so many other words is over used, abused, and taken for granted.  I do not care how many  Facebook friends I have.  Matter of fact, true friends are hard to find.  When I find them, I know it.  Everyone else is just someone I have conversations with.  A true friend of mine is someone who allows me to be an asshole, yet still comes over for a beer.

Later ...............................................

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Tomorrow Never Arrives

I was probably about age 6 when I first took notice of one of my father's favorite sayings.  It may have been that first Eureka moment in my life when I realized my parents might claim to have all the answers, but not always the right ones or ones that were unassailable.  I guess I discovered logic, or at least became aware of its existence.

"Tomorrow never arrives. "

"Sure it does Daddy."

"No.  No, it doesn't.  By the time tomorrow comes, it is today."

The man had me stumped.  I began chewing on this notion, that tomorrow never arrives.  It had to.  In my bones I knew it had to.  So I retreated into my elementary school mind and worked the notion hard for quite awhile. In kid's time, it seemed like it took forever to come up with a way to one up my ole man.

One day when I was sure I had it.  I found Dad doing Dad stuff.  I squared my shoulders and blurted, "Tomorrow does too arrive."

He stopped doing his Dad stuff and turned to look at me.  He looked at me for some seconds.  "Oh, really?  How do you figure that?

Standing a little straighter and trying to marshal up more bravado, "Today is Yesterday's Tomorrow."

Well, my ole man smiled.  He didn't say a word for what seemed like forever.  And then, "Well you know what Bug? You have me there."

As I walked away, he said to my back,  "Good job."  I remember immediate pride.

While this trip down memory lane is nice and all, my point of this post is I haven't quit chewing on Dad's original saying.  I have tried expanding it this way, that way, and eventually tried to accept that that was all there is.

It would not stay down.  Haunted me on a regular basis.  But then Time, Existence , and what it all means has had me puzzled since I first stumbled upon them.  They will most likely continue to do so I guess until the light has left my eyes and my meat's gone cold.  But I do have my latest opinion on the subject.

What happened yesterday and will happen tomorrow are intrinsically tied up, wrapped up, entwined with the events that unfold today.  It is a complicated flow of the passage of time, the actions of today  and yesterday that dictate what happens in our future tomorrows .  And often it takes the passage of many todays before we understand what happened in all those yesterdays.  And though we might have the answer today, it most likely is one we should have had yesterday and we will now pay the price for it tomorrow.

Later .............................................

Friday, January 20, 2017

Facebook

So now what do I do?  All my comments on the previous post, which appear to be veterans of the retirement gig, suggest I slow down and enjoy what time remains.  Good plan I am sure.  One to strive for.  Unfortunately, being a life long loose dog, go it my own way kinda guy, I just cannot predict where this all ends up.

Its not a case of what to do now that I am free and clear of my "day job".  Rather, I know myself well enough that when faced with uncertainly or multiple forks in the road, I will usually pick the one I didn't notice in the first place.

So anyway, one of those forks I have already walked down.  Because I wanted to use my shop's Facebook page to say goodbye to the area that used my shop over the years, I decided to update my personal page.  Damn, if I did not get sucked in.

Like I said, it started with using Facebook to button up business related issues and ended with me deep into the belly of the Facebook Beast.  And Facebook is a beast.  Maybe more akin to the Sirens from the Odyssey.  Seductive ego boosting taunts abound everywhere.

Once I became trapped with countless numbers of people demanding I "like this, or comment on that, I realized I had to set some boundaries, or create some counter sanity in order to deal with it.  My counter sanity is this blog.  Here I am able to slow down as my blogging friends have suggested without the constant red icon informing me there is something, someone new I need to pay attention to.

Don't get me wrong.  I am enjoying my re-entry into Facebook.  I have exchanged niceties and some good ole boy insults with people from my past.  And it has been a blast.  When the newness wears off, I hope I will have reestablished some old friendships with little maintenance on my part.

As to the Inauguration - Fuck the Inauguration.

Later ...........................................................................................

Thursday, January 19, 2017

A New Chapter


So, it has been awhile since I last visited my blog. Normally my periods of MIA are filled with nothing of interest to relay.  Same ole boring day to day crap that fills my life like it fills the days of everyone else. ........ SSDD and all that.

Well, my recent absence has been filled with excitement, stress, anger, elation, and any number of things not found in the basic make up of SSDD.

I have sold the bike shop.  The gyrations and emotional garbage that accompanied the early January transition are now safely in my rear view.  Because it was not a friendly transition, but one filled with hurt feelings and anger, I came out of it fired up and ready to do battle again.  This old dog is pissed and will re-mark his territory in the near to distant future.  Count on it.

I would get into specifics but why?  Let's just say a long friendship and mutual respect I thought existed does not exist anymore.  The bridge between us may not be burned down, but it is indeed on fire.  I have heard that Time heals all wounds. .......................... We'll see.

In the meantime, I have moved on for the moment, tabling any plans for the long term.  I won't call it retirement, though it may indeed turn out that way.

As one chapter ends, another begins.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ...................................................