Okay, it may be Tax Day but that is no reason to be depressed. Today is absolutely splendid here -- 68 degrees, sunny with just a slight breeze. There are a lot of problems with weather in this part of the world. But days like today make up for a lot of them. Even the woodpeckers seem to be in tune today.
When you live in California, you never get to truly enjoy days like this ... because there are about 300 of them a year. But here, where we have snowstorms in March and water overflowing everywhere, we cherish days like this.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Hope springs eternal
If Christmas is the season of Joy, then Easter is the season of Hope. Despite the gloom and doomers' fondest hopes that we are going to hell in a handbasket, things are looking up these days.
The sun is shining, the grass is greening and the economy seems to be rebounding a bit. If you can't smile today, then you are really a crank and there isn't much hope for you.
Happy Easter to one and all!
The sun is shining, the grass is greening and the economy seems to be rebounding a bit. If you can't smile today, then you are really a crank and there isn't much hope for you.
Happy Easter to one and all!
Monday, April 6, 2009
It's Opening Day - all is well in the world again (for now)
Appropriately, the sun is shining brightly in our little part of the world today. Even though the local major league team -- the Minnesota Twins -- are about to start their last season playing indoors in Minneapolis -- there is an extra bounce in a lot of people's step today.
For today is Opening Day - the official start of the major league baseball season. (Yes, I know there was Sunday night game in Philadelphia. But that was simply to give ESPN2 something to do.)
No, today is Opening Day. All athletic teams have season openers. But only one sport -- major league baseball -- has an Opening Day. It is as is spring has officially sprung. Never mind that the scheduled high today is 38 degrees. The sun is out, baseball can be played again and, for one day (well, at least one afternoon), we can forget bailouts and overseas summits.
Here in the Midwest (and, I suspect in the East), Opening Day means we can officially go back outdoors and play again. Accordingly, most teams play their first game at home in the daytime. (The Twins and the Blue Jays, both of whom have roofs over their heads, do not. Time is insignificant when you are under the Big Top.)
Granted, it is generally a little nippy but that's okay. I remember going to an Opener at old Met Stadium in Bloomington. Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Angels and there was snow piled up outside the stadium. On a warm summer day, Ryan was a handful to face. On this day - with the wind blowing and the temp about 40 degrees, the Twins didn't have much of a shot and went down easily, 7-3. Didn't matter. It was fun anyway.
On Opening Day, it is usually your team's best pitcher against their team's best pitcher. It didn't matter if the starters were Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford vs. Sam McDowell, or as was the case when the twins faced the Mariners at Met Stadium in 1978 (a better weather day, it was 85 and gorgeous), Geoff Zahn vs. Tom House. It was just fun to sit outside and watch baseball again.
Of course, the game doesn't mean more than any of the other 161 the teams will play. In 1968, when the Detroit Tigers lost the opener, 9-1. The next day, they rallied in the ninth inning for the first of their 103 wins en route to rolling to the American League pennant.
As mentioned, this is the last Opener at the Metrodome. Next year, the Twins move to Target Field, a smaller facility on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. There is a large incinerator nearby that doesn't smell great. Parking could be a big challenge. The place will not have a roof. The wisdom of this idea has been debated back and forth but the matter is closed. We'll just have to deal with it.
There will be a few issues to handle. Yesterday, we had two inches of snow on the ground. So, if the Twins opened outside this afternoon, you would see a lot of parkas in the stands. On such a day, an inventive vendor could probably retire after selling hot chocolate all day ... provided he was smart enough to add a little extra "seasoning" to the drink. (Naturally, the "seasoning" would not be recorded on the books.)
As a country, I think we need the concept of Opening Day more than ever this year. The constant battles over the economy, the war in Iraq and other assorted issues has worn us all out. For a short time it takes to play a game, we can put those weighty issues out of our minds. They will be there for us tomorrow. The arguments over them can return then. Today, it is simply time to relax and play ball.
Even if it is indoors.
For today is Opening Day - the official start of the major league baseball season. (Yes, I know there was Sunday night game in Philadelphia. But that was simply to give ESPN2 something to do.)
No, today is Opening Day. All athletic teams have season openers. But only one sport -- major league baseball -- has an Opening Day. It is as is spring has officially sprung. Never mind that the scheduled high today is 38 degrees. The sun is out, baseball can be played again and, for one day (well, at least one afternoon), we can forget bailouts and overseas summits.
Here in the Midwest (and, I suspect in the East), Opening Day means we can officially go back outdoors and play again. Accordingly, most teams play their first game at home in the daytime. (The Twins and the Blue Jays, both of whom have roofs over their heads, do not. Time is insignificant when you are under the Big Top.)
Granted, it is generally a little nippy but that's okay. I remember going to an Opener at old Met Stadium in Bloomington. Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Angels and there was snow piled up outside the stadium. On a warm summer day, Ryan was a handful to face. On this day - with the wind blowing and the temp about 40 degrees, the Twins didn't have much of a shot and went down easily, 7-3. Didn't matter. It was fun anyway.
On Opening Day, it is usually your team's best pitcher against their team's best pitcher. It didn't matter if the starters were Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford vs. Sam McDowell, or as was the case when the twins faced the Mariners at Met Stadium in 1978 (a better weather day, it was 85 and gorgeous), Geoff Zahn vs. Tom House. It was just fun to sit outside and watch baseball again.
Of course, the game doesn't mean more than any of the other 161 the teams will play. In 1968, when the Detroit Tigers lost the opener, 9-1. The next day, they rallied in the ninth inning for the first of their 103 wins en route to rolling to the American League pennant.
As mentioned, this is the last Opener at the Metrodome. Next year, the Twins move to Target Field, a smaller facility on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. There is a large incinerator nearby that doesn't smell great. Parking could be a big challenge. The place will not have a roof. The wisdom of this idea has been debated back and forth but the matter is closed. We'll just have to deal with it.
There will be a few issues to handle. Yesterday, we had two inches of snow on the ground. So, if the Twins opened outside this afternoon, you would see a lot of parkas in the stands. On such a day, an inventive vendor could probably retire after selling hot chocolate all day ... provided he was smart enough to add a little extra "seasoning" to the drink. (Naturally, the "seasoning" would not be recorded on the books.)
As a country, I think we need the concept of Opening Day more than ever this year. The constant battles over the economy, the war in Iraq and other assorted issues has worn us all out. For a short time it takes to play a game, we can put those weighty issues out of our minds. They will be there for us tomorrow. The arguments over them can return then. Today, it is simply time to relax and play ball.
Even if it is indoors.
Friday, April 3, 2009
A quick economic lesson
I got an email this morning from a guy I used to work with in St. Paul. He moved to Montana a few years ago because his wife was transferred there. Now this fellow is a conservative chap but he is not the fire-breathing type that is heard so often on talk radio. In other words, he probably wasn't fired up over Michelle Obama touching Queen Elizabeth the other day.
My ex-colleague was all a twitter this morning, however, over the fact his wife got a bonus check of $19,000 but, after taxes, only netted around $11,500. His anger was twofold: 1) The amount of taxes being taken out. 2) What that tax money was being used for.
I understand all that but I felt I needed to (gently) remind him something. I have been out of full-time work since mid-October. Without getting into specifics, it would take me roughly 35 weeks of full-priced unemployment checks to match his wife's after taxes money from her bonus check.
I don't begrudge her the bonus for a second. I am sure she "busted her ass off" (as her husband put it) and deserves every penny she got. Good for her.
It's just that a lot of us folks would love to "bust our ass off" for just about anybody. So, having sympathy for folks complaining about the size of their bonus check is tough to do.
If, in some people's eyes, this makes me a bad, selfish person for thinking (and writing) along these lines, so be it.
Nobody ever said life was fair.
My ex-colleague was all a twitter this morning, however, over the fact his wife got a bonus check of $19,000 but, after taxes, only netted around $11,500. His anger was twofold: 1) The amount of taxes being taken out. 2) What that tax money was being used for.
I understand all that but I felt I needed to (gently) remind him something. I have been out of full-time work since mid-October. Without getting into specifics, it would take me roughly 35 weeks of full-priced unemployment checks to match his wife's after taxes money from her bonus check.
I don't begrudge her the bonus for a second. I am sure she "busted her ass off" (as her husband put it) and deserves every penny she got. Good for her.
It's just that a lot of us folks would love to "bust our ass off" for just about anybody. So, having sympathy for folks complaining about the size of their bonus check is tough to do.
If, in some people's eyes, this makes me a bad, selfish person for thinking (and writing) along these lines, so be it.
Nobody ever said life was fair.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thanks, George
George Kell died today. He was 86 years old and had been out of the limelight for many years. The obits recalled how he won an AL batting title, nipping Ted Williams in 1949 by something like two thousands of a percentage point. It was the highlight of a long productive career that ultimately brought him to baseball's summit, the Hall of Fame.
When I was a kid, he was one of the voices of summer in Detroit, doing the TV broadcasts of the Tigers. In those days, most teams only showed about 40 games, most of those on the road. Kell's big southern drawl boomed loud and clear from wherever the team played. He was cheery without being a homer. He knew the game well because he had been a good player. He didn't try to be anything more than a guy who made baseball games fun for Tiger fans. In short, he made Tiger broadcast entertaining and informative. There were no lectures about lazy players. George didn't have to do that because he knew pictures didn't lie.
Basically, he did a toned down version of radio on TV, narrating the game without getting into a lot of useless detail. He didn't need to engage in a lot of useless banter about players' wives, etc. He simply wanted to tell us what was going on in the game he was doing and the other games around the league.
In short, he was a man who knew what he did best and didn't try to go past that. It takes a certain amount of discipline to do that. And when I listen and watch some of today's talkers, I find myself liking George's relaxed, southern drawl all the more. I never heard anybody say "The Cincinnatah Redlegs lead ..."
The more I think of it, his voice sounded like a cold glass of Vernors' Ginger Ale on a hot summer afternoon.
He once gave me an autograph in a hotel lobby in Boston, talking to me for 10 minutes about Joe Coleman, a pitcher the Tigers had acquired from Washington the year before. At one point he said,"When he learns to control that curveball, he's gonna be some kind of pitcher." That night, Coleman did just that, fanning 10 or 12 guys in a 2-0 win.
The old boy knew his baseball and told us just what we needed to know - nothing more. Silence is indeed sometimes golden.
George Kell understood that fact well. For that fact alone, we should all be grateful.
When I was a kid, he was one of the voices of summer in Detroit, doing the TV broadcasts of the Tigers. In those days, most teams only showed about 40 games, most of those on the road. Kell's big southern drawl boomed loud and clear from wherever the team played. He was cheery without being a homer. He knew the game well because he had been a good player. He didn't try to be anything more than a guy who made baseball games fun for Tiger fans. In short, he made Tiger broadcast entertaining and informative. There were no lectures about lazy players. George didn't have to do that because he knew pictures didn't lie.
Basically, he did a toned down version of radio on TV, narrating the game without getting into a lot of useless detail. He didn't need to engage in a lot of useless banter about players' wives, etc. He simply wanted to tell us what was going on in the game he was doing and the other games around the league.
In short, he was a man who knew what he did best and didn't try to go past that. It takes a certain amount of discipline to do that. And when I listen and watch some of today's talkers, I find myself liking George's relaxed, southern drawl all the more. I never heard anybody say "The Cincinnatah Redlegs lead ..."
The more I think of it, his voice sounded like a cold glass of Vernors' Ginger Ale on a hot summer afternoon.
He once gave me an autograph in a hotel lobby in Boston, talking to me for 10 minutes about Joe Coleman, a pitcher the Tigers had acquired from Washington the year before. At one point he said,"When he learns to control that curveball, he's gonna be some kind of pitcher." That night, Coleman did just that, fanning 10 or 12 guys in a 2-0 win.
The old boy knew his baseball and told us just what we needed to know - nothing more. Silence is indeed sometimes golden.
George Kell understood that fact well. For that fact alone, we should all be grateful.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Is it really that hard to be nice?
A friend of ours is being inducted into her college's athletic Hall of Fame next week for her tennis achievements. My wife and I were invited to come to Florida to see her induction but, alas, can't make it.
So, we'll take her out to dinner here and celebrate her good fortune. We'll toast her success perhaps with a drink or two.
I bring this up because, as a country, we seem to resent it every time somebody other than ourselves does well. Every lottery winner is looked at suspiciously. A lot of people caught in the AIG crossfire -- lower level people who had little to do with the major fraud the company is accused of and who worked hard at their jobs to earn their bonuses -- are catching hell from everybody.
We have, by and large, become a mean-spirited country. It has always been that way for some politically minded-souls. But now this seems to be extending to more than those folks who live and die politically.
There are a lot of folks who are actually mad at President Obama because he actually had the audacity to spend the time to do something fun like fill out a NCAA bracket for ESPN. He went to California to give a couple of speeches and worked out some time to appear with Jay Leno. A lot of people got whacked out of shape over that one. How dare he enjoy himself even a little bit during these parlous times?
What the killjoys don't understand is that we all need breaks from our daily work routine. We also all need praise at times. And, while we may be modest about accepting congratulations for something well done, the fact is we need that input from someone, too. All work and no play (or, to put it another way, all work and no joy) does more than make somebody dull. It makes that person angry and unhappy.
Angry and unhappy people - the folks who are jealous of other people's success or good fortune -- often do irrational things.
It is easy to wish ill on someone else. It takes just a second to do so and, for some people, it seems to be cathartic. (A former colleague once called me up and gave me a profanity-filled tongue-lashing because he thought I had dissed his boss in public. The fact that he was wrong in his assertions is irrelevant in this case. The point was he then called up his old boss and told him he defended him and verbally slayed me. Maybe he felt better about himself for doing this. Maybe he earned a raise for doing so.)
Me? I'd rather be happy for a friend's success. It may not be as therapeutic as yelling at someone or holding a grudge. But I sleep a lot better at night.
So, we'll take her out to dinner here and celebrate her good fortune. We'll toast her success perhaps with a drink or two.
I bring this up because, as a country, we seem to resent it every time somebody other than ourselves does well. Every lottery winner is looked at suspiciously. A lot of people caught in the AIG crossfire -- lower level people who had little to do with the major fraud the company is accused of and who worked hard at their jobs to earn their bonuses -- are catching hell from everybody.
We have, by and large, become a mean-spirited country. It has always been that way for some politically minded-souls. But now this seems to be extending to more than those folks who live and die politically.
There are a lot of folks who are actually mad at President Obama because he actually had the audacity to spend the time to do something fun like fill out a NCAA bracket for ESPN. He went to California to give a couple of speeches and worked out some time to appear with Jay Leno. A lot of people got whacked out of shape over that one. How dare he enjoy himself even a little bit during these parlous times?
What the killjoys don't understand is that we all need breaks from our daily work routine. We also all need praise at times. And, while we may be modest about accepting congratulations for something well done, the fact is we need that input from someone, too. All work and no play (or, to put it another way, all work and no joy) does more than make somebody dull. It makes that person angry and unhappy.
Angry and unhappy people - the folks who are jealous of other people's success or good fortune -- often do irrational things.
It is easy to wish ill on someone else. It takes just a second to do so and, for some people, it seems to be cathartic. (A former colleague once called me up and gave me a profanity-filled tongue-lashing because he thought I had dissed his boss in public. The fact that he was wrong in his assertions is irrelevant in this case. The point was he then called up his old boss and told him he defended him and verbally slayed me. Maybe he felt better about himself for doing this. Maybe he earned a raise for doing so.)
Me? I'd rather be happy for a friend's success. It may not be as therapeutic as yelling at someone or holding a grudge. But I sleep a lot better at night.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Another encouraging sign!
As a country, we seem to be in need of serious encouragement these days. So, it is time for me to do my part.
It may be cloudy outside with snow still on the ground. Our 401Ks have been cut to 201Ks. Minnesota's Senate race still isn't decided ... four months after we voted.
But hope is on the horizon.
It's Opening Day at Connie's Creamy Cone - the local ice cream parlor.
Connie's is a delightful place. Connie lives in the neighborhood and uses a lot of high school kids who are polite and helpful.
They have even added doggie cups, the perfect size for the Happy Dog, Pete (who is a regular customer).
Life is about to get a lot better.
It may be cloudy outside with snow still on the ground. Our 401Ks have been cut to 201Ks. Minnesota's Senate race still isn't decided ... four months after we voted.
But hope is on the horizon.
It's Opening Day at Connie's Creamy Cone - the local ice cream parlor.
Connie's is a delightful place. Connie lives in the neighborhood and uses a lot of high school kids who are polite and helpful.
They have even added doggie cups, the perfect size for the Happy Dog, Pete (who is a regular customer).
Life is about to get a lot better.
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