2nd Anniversary (Happy Halloween)

Today marks the 2nd Anniversary of our arrival in Indianapolis, or our New Life!  For the 2nd year in a row I wonder why we did not move out here sooner.

 

Look for Washington DC Part II...soon.

Washington, DC

Too tired to find camera in luggage but here is the rundown on our adventure to Washington, DC:

Day One: Tuesday

We leave Indiana at 9:00pm exactly. Packed and loaded the night before we await the end of a Boy Scout meeting to leave. We hit the road with the XM tuned to the World Series and hope to get to Columbus (about 3 hours) or so before stopping. World Series still going and so am I, everyone sleeps (but me) and we make to to Wheeling, West Virginia at the bottom of the 14th, game over and so am I. White Sox win and we stay at a Red Roof Inn.

Day Two: Wednesday

We awake and hit the road to take our time to Washington. Driving through West Virginia we are reminded of upstate New York, mountains, tress, the fall color. The boy comments: " I think there are more trees on that mountain than all of Indiana." I do not argue as I think he is right. We are glad we did not do this trip at night as the scenery is beautiful and we enjoy the ride through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. We reach Washington at 2:00 and spend a total of 9 hours going from home to our hotel. Our directions looped us under DC and we stopped at a parking lot to make sure of where to go when we realize we are parked in front of the Pentagon. As we look at the map I tell the boy to jump out and take a pic. He is out of the car for 2 seconds when this guy comes out of nowhere and says, "No pictures please!". He jumps back in the car and we get the hell out of dodge.

Our hotel is on 11th and E St. It is one block up from Pennsylvania Avenue. We unload, see our room (it is an old hotel, they actually give us KEYS!). It will do, we got the suite so we have one room for us and one for the boy and 2 bathrooms. We go to park the car in the hotel parking garage and when we come out we see the back of the White House. So we start the trip with a walk around the White House and the Eisenhower Building. We visit the Ellipse and see the National Christmas Tree, Jackson Square, protesters, Freedom Plaza and the area around our hotel. The best stop of the night was the Old Post Office (across from our hotel). Not only was it the first post office and had an incredible history of saving it from being torn down that spans decades. But it is the 2nd tallest building in the National Mall area (1st being the Washington Monument) and you can take an elevator to the top of the bell tower and have a 360 view of Downtown Washington, DC, AWESOME!!! That takes a few hours, then we hit ESPN Zone across the street for baseball and dinner. We retire and watch the final game of the World Series and prepare for the next day.

Day Three: Thursday

This is the big one, we are hitting the major monuments and the Smithsonian Institute today. Everything in Washington is free! You can no longer visit the White House (thanks Terrorists) and you need tickets for the Washington Monument and the Capitol, these are free, limited and on a first come first served basis. We hit the Washington Monument at 9:30 and get the first free tickets at 10:30. We spend the 45 minutes walking around the Monument and taking fantastic pics down the National Mall at the Capitol and then across the reflecting Pool to the WWII and Lincoln Memorials.

Side Note: While waiting for our turn we talk with several people. One is a father and young boy from Florida. While talking we let it slip that the wife is from the Lake George region, which this guy visited in his youth. He mentions a town my wife is familiar with and tells a story of a summer vacation at a cabin gone wrong by ghosts. He was choked one night and refused to sleep in that room again, the next night his sister was choked in that same room. The family went shopping the next morning and he was napping when the blankets were torn off the bed, no one else was home. He ran from the house and met the family on the porch 2 hours later. He never went back into the house, they had to get his stuff and they moved to another cabin. When they returned the key they said they could not spend another night there and the owners said they understood.

Top of the Washington Monument is incredible, we took pics galore and noticed outlines of baseball diamonds in front of the White House. On old pics (1920's) you can see that there were 3 baseball diamonds on the Ellipse, cool. The newest addition to DC, the WWII Memorial was incredible. The boy took a pic of every column and wants to make a side show. This one had many vets there (more than the Vietnam). We walked the Reflecting Pool towards the Lincoln Memorial and stopped at The Wall (Vietnam Veteran's Memorial). From there up the steps to Lincoln himself. There was some restoration going on, so there were workers around but it was still an impressive site. I was in awe reading the Gettysburg Address. We hit the Korean War Memorial and then went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, that is where money is made. We took the second to last tour and had a blast. We watched as special paper went from blank stacks to real $1 bills.
Fast Facts:
-$1 have a shelf life of 18 months
-Money is made in $340,000 bundles
-There is a separate press for STAR (*) bills, these a bills made to replace faulty runs of bills and are only to be put in circulation at that plant by a special worker.

From the BEP we hit the Smithsonian Castle, which is really just an information center, and then went to the museum of American History. There we saw the flag that flew from the Pentagon on 9/11 (huge) the original Star Spangled Banner that inspired Francis Scott Key (even bigger), Oscar the Grouch, Archie Bunker's chair, Mr. Roger's Sweater and countless other artifacts of pop culture, military history and the Presidents. From there we RAN to the US Archives and stood in line to be the 3rd from last tour to see the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta and all 4 pages of the Constitution. While the Declaration is very faded, the Constitution has held up well and it is amazing to see Ben Franklins signature right there. We hit the gift shop (Please bring purchases to the register we are closing in one minute) and walked out the door. The boy looked at me and said "Wow, the 2 most important things in American history and I was this far away from it!!!"

From there to the hotel and then to Popeye's Chicken. We were so tired we just wanted to relax and watch Survivor and go to bed early, plus my dog were barking!!!! We did everything on foot, we walked from 9am till 7:46pm never stopping for lunch or taking a bus or trolley!

Now my wrist is tired so I will continue anon......

Back...

And Tired. Left DC this morning at 10:30, arrived in Indiana at 8:30...hauled ass stopped twice (1 hour lunch, 30 min stretch and gas)...very exciting, tons of pics and great stories. Was actually in the Capitol when the vote about Rosa Parks went through...we were standing in the Rotunda when aids came thru and told some tour guides...awesome.

More in the days to come...now to bed!

Trip Prep

We went to the book store yesterday to get a travel guide for Washington DC. We ended up with the National Geographic one, an excellent book and much better than Fodor's or Frommer's. Then we spent the better part of the evening searching for hotels. Giving the limited budget and my general cheapness we found one outside of DC for almost $100/per night. Then after a little soul searching, transportation costs comparison and a little egging from the wife we found a hotel right in the middle of downtown DC, 2 blocks east of the White House and 3 blocks north of the Smithsonian Institute, it costs a bit more per night ($140) but a) when are we in Washington again and 2) we do have credit...so damn the cost and full speed ahead. The great thing is that I negotiated free parking (usually $10/day) and we are in walking distance of EVERYTHING!!!!

We also got a 'family suite', the boy gets his own room and TV and bathroom and we get a view of the White House out of our window...

As for the drive (10 hours) does anyone one know a any weird stops between Indianapolis and Washington DC, I'm talking largest ball of twine or the world's smallest working tractor, anything to break up the drive and get us out of the car for 30 minutes...thanks!

Moving Out

Went to see Moving Out last night on the Broadway ticket in Indianapolis. Let me say first that I love Billy Joel, he was one of my first concerts and I traveled many times to see him when New York shows sold out. Let me also say that I enjoy Broadway shows, my last night in New York City as a resident was spent on Broadway. Just setting the scene.

Moving Out has great music, the band was great and the singer fantastic. Outside of that it is NOT a Broadway musical. See Greece, Le Mis, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Starlight Express for a Broadway musical, this is Joel's music set to interpretive dance. As far as dance goes, I spent the past 13 weeks NOT WATCHING So you Think You Can Dance and then had to sit through 2 hours of it set to music I love, not good. There is no speaking, the characters wear jackets with their name on it so you can tell who they are, if you care. I got one thing out of last nights performance, Brenda is a bitch and a whore and I felt like booing her at the curtain call. Now the story, if you want music with a theme, a rock opera, songs that relate to each other, telling a story then you have tons to choose from Pink Floyd's The Wall, Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Who's Tommy, Rush's 2112, Dark Side of the Moon, anything by Coheed and Cambria. Those are rock opera's, those relate, hell even Prince's Purple Rain, but you can not just take 24 songs from a musician's 30 year career and just throw them together to make a story line...i was not happening.

All in all the wife and I had a nice dinner and an evening at the theater, and a lot of laughs in the car ride home...

Friday On My Mind

T.G.I.F!!!!!!

It was a long week and I am very happy it is here! The boy is going camping this weekend and the wife and I are going to Moving Out, the Broadway show that is now on the road. That should be fun, I love Billy Joel and the wifelikes culture so it is a good match up.

I think I will spend Saturday in the garage. It is a big mess and needs tending to! My workbench is a disaster and the sports equipment area looks like a bomb hit it. Also the car needs cleaning and we should prepare forour road trip next week.

We have 2 movies and about 60 hours of TV to watch. I would love to get caught up this weekend. It looks to be a rainy one so keep your fingerscrossed!!!

Also I am looking at upgrading my camera, if anyone knows where to find a Digital Canon Rebel for CHEAP, let me know!

Have a great weekend!

Brush With Fluff

If you are an avid viewer of Inside Edition then watch carefully today. Ms Norville did the entire show from my station. They tied up the newsroom for about 2 hours and it was actually a very neat operation, they knew thier joband did it well.

Look for a cameo by yours truly, big guy, mustache and black shirt. I don't think they were taping at the moment as I had the scripts to input into theteleprompter but hey you never know.

Survivor Night

Tonight is Survivor Night in my family. We go over to my parents, have dinner and all watch Survivor together. We have been doing this since we moved out here and enjoy it very much. Tonight is also the boys concert, it snuck up on me. I, as always, was kept out of the loop and was surprised when told we needed to buy him new shoes last night for the concert. What concert I asked, his band concert tomorrow, we've been talking about it all week...but not to me.

Anyway I am excited to be going tonight and we should all have fun, just nobody tell me what happens on Survivor or I might have to kill you.

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I need some new reads so please help. I have a handful I hit everyday (sometimes twice) and then a bunch I go to once in a while and then a few on the side there I have not visited in a while and will someday get rid of (I'm looking at you Wheaton)...so if you have a good read you do not see on my Blog Roll let me know...or if you visit here and do not see yourself over there let me know. Thanks

With The Swing Of A Bat II

Little did I know when I wrote the Monday post that last night would have happened. And that is why I love the sport of baseball (after all my football gushing last post). 2 outs, 2 strikes, 9th inning and 1 strike away from going to the World Series, a shot over the fence and we are going to Game 5. I prefer American League to National League and neither love nor hate Houston or St. Louis, but last night's game is what is So Right aboutbaseball...

Monday Night Football

Now as regular readers know, baseball is my sport of choice, and the only one I follow religiously knowing teams, players, standings, stats, etc. Every other sports pales to me, I watch football and hockey, love curling and HATE basketball (I know I live in the wrong state to hate that). However, nothing beats a live sporting event. Last night I was able to go to my 2nd Monday Night Football game here in Indianapolis. I love the game of football and will watch it if the Colts are on (to a lesser extent the Cleveland Browns) but do not sit on the couch all day Sunday with the remote. Seeing it live is incredible, seeing it as a national spotlight, as in Monday Night Football, is AWESOME. The anticipation, the throngs, the NOISE!!! They all add up to a fantastic time had with my Dad and a great time had by the city of Indianapolis.

Personally it was thrilling to share the electricity at the top of the show. Colts were down 17-0 but it got so loud that my ears are still humming, it was actually deafening!!! Not only did the Colts become the only undefeated team in the NFL, Manning and Harrison broke the record of most TD's by a Quarterback and Receiver.

The only downfall to the evening was going home. I got stuck on the roof of the garage and even though we left with 3 minutes left tin the game my usual 20 minute drive took almost 2 hours. I was beat when I got home after 1am and missed my kid, my wife, working out and almost my job when I jumped out of bed after 9am and hauled ass to get to work...

Till Next Time, GO COLTS!!!

With The Swing Of A Bat

What a weekend.  We had plenty to do, baseball, overtime, the wife's birthday.

 

Starting Saturday I worked the morning at home, mowing and cleaning and family stuff.  Then a nice dinner at 3pm (corned beef and cabbage) then off to work till midnight.  Nothing going on there but a running dialog on Meat Loaf and his place in music history (I think he is an oft over looked genius).

 

Sunday started with the wife's Birthday but nothing special because a) I never had time to pick up her gift and 2) the boy had a sleep over at a friends house and the wife and I slept in late.  When we finally got moving we headed out to the baseball fields for the Championship Tourney.  We did alright winning our first game but lost the final game before the championship due to bad calls and a change in venue.  We played hard and tied it up but went so late that it got dark and we had to move across town to the lighted fields.  We lost it in the top of the 9th when the scored 3.  The boy had a great day, hitting two to the fence, nice and deep and made some great defensive plays. One as catcher he threw out the runner to 3rd.  As they came off the field he was crying, I thought he was hurt but he said he was just glad he made the out at 3rd.  The head coach looked at him and said, " That's what I love, competitiveness!!"  He at one point did the full extension behind the plate to snatch a foul ball, it bounced out of his glove as he hit the ground with a big whooshhhh, nice hustle!

Thankfully we were home by 9ish and done after 9 hours of baseball.  We slept hard and woke up late this morning, me to the Y to work out, the wife to work and the boy to school.  All in all a great weekend.  Now if you will excuse me I have flowers to buy for the wife, part one of the post birthday gifts.
 

Friday

Getting ready to direct newscast but wanted to stop by first. Everyone have a great weekend, I am off to work some OT, a baseball tourney, mow lawn, clean house top to bottom and oh it is the wife's birthday and I've yet to get her a gift.

On an unrelated front the Powerball jackpot is up to $290 million, that is enough to get me in the ticket line!!! I've told my co-workers when I win I will be buying a local BBQ place to throw a party, and of course you are all invited!!!!

Late Night

After yesterday's post of getting involved, I had a Troop Committee meeting last night. I went straight from work to the meeting then got home at 10:45 and had dinner. Reminded me of my union days when I would be out of the house from 4am till after 11pm then up at 4am again the next day. But those are the sacrifices we make...

Saw the new Ipod yesterday and now I am in love. Could I fill a 30 gig Ipod with music, probably not but I want like hell to give it a try. I have been dumping my music into Itunes in prep for the inevitable. I am thru the Rush official collection and a handfull of concerts and single artist albums and I am up to 4 gig. I still have tons of boots, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Van Halen, etc to go. Also I will be hitting the library for some greatest hits collections of some old artists....should be fun.

Thank God it is Thursday...off to work!!!

Hump Day

What a slow week. Last night was only Tuesday (Scout Night), Oh My God SLOW!!! Tonight is committee night for the Troop and I am on it. While it is a Scout run Troop we must approve and advise the boys and they just finished planning the entire year and we have to approve it. Last night I was asked to be on a Board of Review. Normally we are assigned to them by the Advancement Chair and I have sat on several. However this one was for an Eagle Palm and the Scout asked me to sit on it for him. To the non-Scouter an Eagle Scout is the highest rank one can achieve in Scouting, the requirements are hard, the path is long and only about 1 in 100 Scouts receive it, I am one. After you achieve Eagle if you have time (Scouting ends at 18) you may earn Eagle Palms, for every 4 Merit Badges and 3 months service. This is my 2nd Palm with this Scout and he deserves it.
While in the middle of the Board of Review I asked and question and then gave an example and then realized that this was not a question I just ask it was one that I live and then realized it is one that everyone should live and then maybe we would live in a better world.

The question was: What do you/can you do outside of Scouting to return something to the community you live in?

The answer was simple: Anything you can.

My examples were that I am an Asst. Scoutmaster, a Little League Coach, on the Neighborhood Board and an involved parent with my son. In New York I was also a Labor Leader and Classroom Parent. While they may seem simple things they are needed to improve life in my community. I would love to be more involved in local government, town council maybe even politics but an unable to at this time. The point is that you need to be involved with the outside world! As a parent it is easy to be involved with your child's activities, but that does matter and it does make a difference! It might be just being Team Mom for the 3rd Grade Football team, but you are there and active and with your kids. That is a major problem we are having at the Troop, we have 120 Scouts and many parents do not even get out of the car as they drive by and drop off the boys. While I understand that life is busy and those with more than one child are pulled in many directions but it is important to be involved. Monkey see, Monkey do!!

One cannot sit on the sidelines and bitch about the way the game is going, so get in the game!

More True Stories

The wife and I moved in together right after college. I worked some 65 miles away part time and the wife (girlfriend at the time) was a waitress in the next town over. Needless to say money was tight but we got along. We did not have enough money to go to the laundry mat but the previous tenants left a portable washer. It was a tiny thing on wheels that you rolled up to the sink, it had two hoses coming out of it. One you attached to the kitchen faucet the other you stuck down the kitchen drain. You control the water temperature using the hot/cold on the kitchen sink and it held 2 shirts or one pair of jeans at a time. We took the wet clothes and hung them out to dry outside, during the cold Oswego winters (-20) we had an enclosed porch off the back of the house that was our 'dryer'. I remember one fight we got into over food and money. Little Ceasers opened up down the block from us (Pizza, Pizza) and was having that 2 for $5 deal, 2 pizzas for us would feed us for days. However the next morning we awoke to find that the other pizza was never put in the fridge and was now covered with ants. The pizza went in the garbage and the argument ensued. While I am sure I am to blame (as always) the fact that we had spent $2.50 on the pizza and now had to throw it out was very traumatic to us and a strain on the wallet. Apparently we got over it, we'll be married 13 years this January.

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Addendum: On yesterday's post, I do not condone what those officers did! That poor man did not deserve the beating and the officers should be held accountable. My point was that the whole situation should not have happened. The last thing these men (and women) need to worry about after the loss of homes, lives, city and in the midst of trying to rebuild is drunks on the corner and girls gone wild in the balconies. If the mayor wants to open the city then open it to skilled craftsmen and electricians and construction workers and sanitation people, get the city cleaned up, ultilities back on and families back into homes!!!

Monday Randomlings

Shock and horror visited the boys face this weekend when we went to a new restaurant to have lunch. We walk into the sports pub and he asks for a table to see the IU game (they have several TV's showing ESPN, college football, etc). As we sit the waitress gives the wife and I menus and the boy (12 going on 12 in March) 3 crayons and the kids menu with connect the dots and tic tac toe. He looks at her like "What the @#$%" and then looks to his parents with his jaw on the ground knowing what is to come next..."Wat a good widdle boy you are, mommy and daddy are so proud you can order by yourself, do you need a booster seat? No, OK, let us know if you have to go boom boom or wee wee." I know I will be paying for that one in therapy for years to come.

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Watching the news today I say the New Orleans beating for the first time. While I do not condone what those officers did, there is one person to blame and one person only, the Mayor. These men have been on high alert for several weeks, amid the worst disaster on our coasts in history. These men and women have been in neck high water, working 24-7, not enough food water or rest, watched the city they love destroyed; many have lost their own homes, loved ones and fellow officers (at least 2 suicides); have lost their boss when he resigned last week. They are living paycheck to paycheck in a town were their families cannot live, go to school, visit neighbors. This weekend I mowed the lawn, watched TV, coached 2 little league games and enjoyed the Colts. I wonder what these officers did this weekend; worked overtime, picked through the rubble that was their homes, buried a loved one, talked to their kids who are living in a 500 square foot trailer 3 states away...and then they are expected to patrol Bourbon Street and not beat the hell out of drunks coming into the ruins of their city. Mayor Nagen should be ashamed of himself, those men should be punished, given some off time and then return to full duty in a few weeks. But instead it will turn into a racial thing and we will never hear the end of this bullshit.

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True Story: When the wife and I first moved in together, we were so poor we slept on our clothes. Not in our clothes but on them. We took our clean clothes and folded them and stacked them on the floor of out bedroom, then put a large comforter on top of them and then blankets over us. We slept on that until the people downstairs had a sleeper sofa that the Salvation Army REFUSED TO TAKE. It was on our porch covered in snow when I asked them about it. They said noone would take it so they were just going to throw it out. I asked them if we could have it and he helped me carry it upstairs. Our first bed!!!

Daily Post

Wow, I posted like a mother this week. Last night Survivor was interesting. I am glad Brooke is gone, leave poor Lydia alone, she is working her ass off for you guys, enough already. The Steph, while I love her is a jinx, get her off the island NOW!!!

The Lord of the Rings museum Show is here in Indy. Looks like a great exhibit but they do not allow camera (video or still), cell phones or SKETCHING?!?!?! It's movie props people, not nuclear secrets...

Got our new couch yesterday. A nice leather sectional with a recliner at each end. It was very comfortable last night while watching Threshold. Now we get to move the old furniture upstairs to the loft for a nice family sitting room and kid hand out with TV and game stations. The lone couch in that room will now make it's way into the Master Bedroom suite as a sitting area for us, or as I call it another dresser to hang clothes off of...

Bad Moon Rising

Been in a fowl mood lately, nothing series just a funk. Noone has really bothered me and I have not really lashed out at anyone, home or work. Just feel like being left alone for the past few days. Ever feel like that?

Today we also get our new couch. We are very excited, it is a nice sectional with recliner on both ends. It will look great in the living room and there is now plenty of room for everyone when company comes.

We were supposed to go to Florida for a quick break at the end of October but then last night the wife suggested we go to Washington DC (we were watching Amazing Race). Now I have been several times and I believe the wife has as well but the boy has never been and it is something I believe we should all do once in our lifetime. So now I am going to go online and find driving directions, visitors guides, hotels, etc. It also helps that I have several friends that work in DC and might be able to help. Any suggestions are appreciated.

My spirit is lifting already, thanks. Could also be the George Thorogood I am ripping into the PC...

Cause Everyone Else Is Doing It

You will be famous for taking over a small country You always see opportunities to get what you want no matter what the cost. You are cut-throat and a capitalist at heart. Let’s hope the country is a tropical paradise and not Iceland. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Told You So!

So President Bush announced his newest nominee to the Supreme Court and low and behold it is a woman. I will put aside the fact that this woman is not a judge, has been in Bush's employ for the past 10 years and was actually a Democrat who voted for Gore in the last election and totally not qualified for this position. The point I want you to see is that although I would be glad to see another woman put on the Supreme Court, the fact that this nominee HAD TO BE A WOMAN is why I feel political correctness will destroy this country. They were not looking for the best candidate to fill this position but the best FEMALE candidate to fill this position and we didn't even get that. I am surprised that this was not a black woman, HOME RUN for the political correctness team, add to that either blind or in a wheelchair and she would have passed the Senate 100-0.

PS: Addendum to yesterdays post...To the 'bitcher', if you think that the Red Cross is too 'white' for you, then get off your ass and volunteer and get your friends, family, church and community to volunteer and then the Red Cross in your area would be 'diverse' enough for you.

Racism

I have had this post in my head for awhile now but did not want it to come out the wrong way but then saw a story in the news the other day and felt that enough is enough...Racism is alive and well in America and I feel that the black community has been fostering it for a long time.

I read a story that survivors of the 2 hurricanes thought that the Red Cross is too white and black from New Orleans do not feel comfortable with them helping them.

Every time there is a police incident where shots are fired and a person is killed, if that person is black then the police are racist.

When an organization hires a new Manager, CEO or Coach and they are not black the company/team is racist.

When a person looks over their shoulder at night while walking downtown and hurries a little when they see a group of men coming up behind them, if the group is black that person is racist.

I know we do not live in a perfect society and that racism and sexism and weightism and whateverism is alive and well in parts of society. But it is time to move on and foster a better life and lifestyle for those that come after us.

Let me say this, Slavery is wrong, the US fought to abolish it AND WON over a hundred years ago, let it go!!! My ancestors were in Italy and Ireland and never owned slaves, stop throwing that shit in my face. Rome was built on the backs of slaves, the pyramids were built on the backs of slaves, Irish were treated as second class citizens when we first came over and there is a greater chance of having a Black President then an Italian one in my lifetime but I am not still bitching about it.

You are treated the way you treat others, I believe and people's attitudes towards you reflect your attitudes towards other people. When you try and live the gangsta life and talk about your bitches and hoes, and everything is nigger this and nigger that you wonder why people stare at you and are cautious around you and are scared of you and do not trust you and will not hire you. I understand and have seen that many things are unique in black culture and have lived with and worked with and befriended many black people. I see a strong community, with strong families, strong faith, strong work ethics, like I see in Asian communities, and Italian communities, Native American communities, Latino communities, etc, etc, etc. Every community is unique in it's own way but every community is not an island. It is time to move on and stop looking for skin color and stop using racism as an excuse.

Why don't we see articles and news reports on the lack of Cuban, Irish, French or Russian Baseball managers? Why is it after a round of manager is hired in a sport we do not focus on the qualities of those people but tally up the skin color and bitch that not enough are black.

We had a shooting here last year with the criminal and one officer dead at the end. The police were called heroes and the officer mourned. If that criminal was black it would have been a different story, I am sorry but it is true. I have seen it time and time again in Rochester, NY; there was one shooting when the local black community called the police racist, and the officer that shot the criminal was black.

What bugs me the most is that this is the boy who cried wolf! When every hire, and police incident, and election, and sports hire, and political appointment is criticized for not being black and called racist; then people lose interest and turn a deaf ear to the cry. And when a true incident of racism does occur (which it does) it is swept under the rug and ignored and lost amid the bleating of the flock. And THAT ladies and gentlemen is the real crime.

Whew!!!

With today's win over Boston and Cleveland's sad loss to Chicago, the New York Yankees win their 8th consecutive AL East Division Banner. I gave up several months ago when all was dark and bleak but never stopped cheering for them. This was a well earned and hard fought victory, I hope they have the stones to go all the way, I do not think so but there have been other Yankee miracles in the past!!

Awake

It is Saturday morning at 7:00am and I am up. We went to the movies last night (A History of Violence, AWESOME) and then tried to clear out some backlog of TV (got to bed after midnight). Now I am awake with no hope of getting back to bed. I actually awoke at 6:00am but tried to stick it out and return to slumberland, to no avail.

We have tons to work out this weekend, the boy has baseball and we are starting our Boy Scout Popcorn Sale today. I am not one to push school fundraising at work, we do magazines, Christmas wrapping paper, food sales, etc but I never bring those in to work. This stuff however I full support because the popcorn is just so damn good!!! The beauty of it this year is that you can order online, I can bring in some cards with the website and the boy's Scout ID number on it and anyone can go to the site, enter his number, order some popcorn products and have it shipped directly to them, ANY TIME OF THE YEAR. And each month the popcorn people forward the Scout's Online sales to the Troop so each Scout gets credit for them (the Boy Scouts return 40% of sales back to the Troop and our Troop puts half of that into a Scout Account from which they can pay for uniforms, patches, campout, summer camp, etc...the highest return rate of most fundraisers). So I can get to work on helping him with that.

Also clean the house, mow the yard, clean the cars and hopefully organize the office before the wife gets too pissed!

Have A Great Weekend.