BeMused

The big news story lately, at least in the sports world, has been the riot that took place during the Pistons / Pacers game. I’m sure if you’ve even watched 3 minutes of news lately, you’ve seen the footage of Ron Artest jumping up into the stands and attempt to pummel one of the fans that threw a water bottle at him.

That’s not what gets me, really. True, Artest shouldn’t have jumped up into the stands. And the same goes for the fan throwing the water bottle and setting off the melee, it shouldn’t have happened. Both sides are at fault.

What got me was what I heard on the news this morning. That the NBA players are thinking about a walkout next season. I’m assuming because they don’t think they make enough. On average, they make 4 million a year.

That’s a big fat 4 with 6 zero’s behind it.

The same issue is going on in hockey right now. There are no games because the players think they don’t make enough money. I’m sure whatever the average salary is in hockey, it’s a lot more than the average Joe makes. And they’re playing games.

Personally, I’d love to see an NBA walkout. Perhaps even an NFL and MBA one as well. Get these whiney boys, who can’t seem to understand that they’re getting paid serious money to play a game a real job.

It just sickens me to see grown men act like petulant whiney four-year olds.

My brother came down from New York to visit this weekend, and it was great having him around. I miss just hanging out with him and BS’ing. Our parents were divorced back in ‘84/’85 (I tend to forget the exact year) and he went to live with mom, while I stayed with Dad. I was 14, so he was probably 10 or 11. So since that time, we’ve never hung out on a daily basis, other than the times we’re visiting relatives for the holidays, or, like this weekend, one of the two of us goes and visits the other. So yeah, it’s nice having him around.

Cody’s birthday was this weekend as well, and Uncle Seth (as well as Grammy) chipped in and we got him a nice Iron Horse mountain bike. Gail was smart and bought the kickstand (though if my memory is any idication, boys tend to be in too much of a hurry to use the kickstand). It’s a nice bike so I hope he takes good care of it. Next weekend we’re taking him and a few of his friends bowling as the birthday party part of his birthday. We decided to do it later because a couple of his friends wouldn’t have been able to make it. As he’s really looking foward to it, it should be a good time

Sarah’s last soccer game was Saturday, and we proceed directly from there to the mall so she could get her ears pierced. For her 7^th birthday she wanted her ears pierced, but because the SYSA forbid jewelry of any kind (apparently some girl died of a puncture wound to her neck from the post of her earring), so we had to wait until the last game to do it. She didn’t even want to take time out to change. So she got her ears pierced in her soccer uniform, complete with shin guards and cleats.

She’s a pretty amazing little girl. When she sets her mind to doing something, she just does it. This was first made eveident when she wanted some Cinderella panties she saw while we were shopping one day. We told her that those were big girl panties (she was still in diapers) and that she needed to be potty trained first. We’d been trying for a couple of months, but she wasn’t having anything to do with it. She saw those panties however, and changed her mind. We bought them for her, she wore them and never had a single accident. She just set her mind to it and end of story.

Same with her bike. She decided it was time to ride it and after a few times in the grass, she was riding around the cul-de-sac. Just decided she was ready.

When we got her ears pierced, there was a toddler that went before us who cried big time. I thought this might put Sarah off a bit. Olivia, Sarah’s friend who was with us, seemed as nervous as I thought Sarah should’ve been. But as soon as it was her turn, she jumped up into the chair, presented her ears and sat absolutely still as the girl doing to piercing did her work. Not a flinch, nor did the smile ever disappear from her face.

She’s quite a piece of work, my little girl. Must’ve gotten it from her mom.

Well, it looks like we’ll have to put up with four more years of Dubya’s BS (though it’s still not conclusive yet), there’s layoffs coming down the pipe here at work, and someone parked in my usual parking space.

So, what’s this all mean? Well, hopefully Bush won’t screw up to bad, I can get up earlier and eat breakfast at home instead of here at work in case I do get laid off, and it won’t kill me to walk the extra eight feet to my car.

Here’s to hoping the day perks up a bit.

I went to vote this morning (as you all should), and when I got to my polling place, they didn’t have me registered. Gail was, yes, correct address and all, but I wasnt. I’ve registered twice now, once as recently as early October to make sure.

So the Head Honcho dude there took me aside and pulled out his wiz-bang cluncky calculator looking thing. Punched in his code, my last name, and there I am! Yay! Registered! At my old address of all places. The one I haven’t lived in for over 4 years. The one I’ve done a change of address request from three times.

Regardless, I drove to the other polling place, where I was on the rolls. Took care of business and I’m now proudly wearing my “I voted” sticker.

Get out and Vote!

You couldn’t have asked for a nicer weekend. Especially for Halloween. It was nice to see costumes instead of heavy coats with painted faces or masks. The kids sure enjoyed it. Sarah was Laura Ingalls and Cody went as some hybrid RingWraith/Faceless Spector thing. They both hauled a ton of candy home. I’m sure I’m going to have to have a “Come help me eat my kid’s halloween candy” poker party here soon.

It was also a great weekend to ride. I went with my HOG chapter on Sunday and we went out west to some beautiful countryside. Spent about 4 hours total in the saddle, rode over 250 miles, and man, was my butt tired. I hadn’t been out riding for any decent amount of distance in some time, and I felt it. After I got home, I set up my camp chair outside my front door, grabbed the radio, phone, a book and a beer and sat out front and passed out candy. It was a beautiful evening…

Unfortunately, my memory of the ride has been marred by the news of a tragic accident. One of our members lost control of his bike and suffered a fatal blow. I didn’t know the person in question, but he was a fellow brother of the Chapter and a rider as well. It’s upsetting to know someone died on our ride.