What is the Point?

I am finding that I have more things that I dislike than I thought. I can definitely find things to complain about considering the country we live in has new problems on a daily basis.

Every morning when I get to work I check my email and I get my radio turned on. And then I check a site for news and local information called PennLive. This morning I saw this headline

“Senate panel will vote on gay marriage ban”

So I read the article.

HUH??

Why is it that so many people think marriage should only be between a man and a woman?

Is it really that sacred anymore? I am sure half on the senators that are on this panel are either divorced or have had an affair or two. They work too much to have a satisfying and successful marriage. Wait; let me rephrase that last sentence so that it is more accurate. They ARE AWAY HAVING FUN AT OUR EXPENSE too much to have a satisfying and successful marriage. That makes more sense, doesn’t it?

I mean really, the divorce rate is above 50% for the country!! How can you say that gay marriage is threatening the “institution” of marriage? That doesn’t even make sense. What the hell is the “institution of marriage”? Any one who says such a thing should be placed in a true INSTITUTION!!

In the article it says that PA already has a ban on gay marriage. So why are we doing this again? Oh yeah, this is for a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to ban gay marriage. This would make it that much harder for lawyers who have common sense to get around the STUPID law.

One idiot, Peg Luksik of the Pro-Life Coalition said marriage is an institution that “needs and deserves additional protections because of the attacks that have been made by judges across the country that have sought to redefine the institute of marriage.”

ATTACKS?? Why because they are getting people equal rights?

And another idiot, Mike Brubaker (Republican-Lancaster) said “marriage has helped to provide stability in our society for thousands of years. It is worth the effort to define it within our constitution.”

STABILITY?? Why don’t you ask some of the 50% of children in this country who come from divorced parents about stability!

Is gay marriage going to affect your home life? NO! Not any more than the couple next door that is getting divorced next month because they can’t get along. I would rather live next to a gay couple that loves each other than next to a couple that is constantly at each other’s throats.

Obviously if you have read this far you know where I stand on this issue. I don’t see what the problem is. If two people are in love (or not) and want to get married than let them. It is not going to matter to me one way or another.

Is it too much to ask?

I am generally a happy guy that doesn’t get bothered by too many things. At least that’s how I see it now. We will see if that continues now that I am doing this blog but for now I am going with that.

But there are a few things that bother me. I am not going to list them here because 1. I don’t want to think about it and 2. I may want to write about it later, like right now.

I am not religious in the least. I spent 13 years at a Catholic School and going to church every Sunday or so. But all that did was make me hate the church and organized religion.

Basically I am what everyone calls a “non-practicing” Catholic because I was baptized and all that stuff. But I call myself nothing because I am NOT Catholic.

I do consider myself a good person however. And it isn’t because I do anything special or remarkable. I am just generally good natured and nice to people even when they are a**holes to me.

One thing that pisses me off more than anything else has to do with when you let someone go in front of you somewhere or when you stop your car and let someone cross the street. Or when you are at a stop sign and you let someone else turn in front of you.

And it isn’t the letting people go part that pisses me off; it is when the person you let go does not acknowledge you with the “wave”.

You know what the “wave” is, so don’t pretend to be confused. All you have to do is put your hand up and show you appreciate it. You don’t even have to take your hand off the steering wheel if you don’t want to. Just life your fingers off the top of the wheel in a half-wave.

Old people really seem to be the worst at this. For some reason they think that they are entitled to going first. I agree with that in certain situations but not on the road. And you would really think that older Americans would be nicer about things because they are the one’s complaining most of the time, but now they rarely give the “wave”.

Has this country really gotten to the point that a simple nod or wave of the hand is too much for people?

I don’t think it is really that much to ask though because you know damn well that those same people that don’t wave are the first ones putting a finger or flipping the bird at you when they aren’t happy.

So come on people, show a little respect, a little common courtesy and simply acknowledge someone when they do something nice for you! It will make people do it more often.

A little too much gamble!

Last night as me and the family were eating dinner, my wife and I were complaining a little but about what we had to do after dinner.

I was going to go out and cut the grass, some last night and the rest today. This is the first time that it needed cut in 2008. And by grass I mean mostly weeds. I have almost an acre of weeds and some grass.

She had to take our daughter to soccer practice and stand there and watch a bunch of 6-8 yr olds run around in circles and jump all over each other. Not really soccer but what can you expect at that age.

So I said to her "you can cut the grass and I will take her to practice." I didn't really mean it though. There was a hockey game (Hershey Bears!!) on the radio at 7 plus a game on tv at the same time that I wanted to watch. Plus I hate going to the practices more than she does.

Truthfully I only said it because I was certain she would just say hell no!

But she didn't. I bluffed big and she called!! NO!! Luckily for me I have no problem changing my mind or going back on something I said. So I said that I was kidding and that I would stay and cut the grass.

She pretty much knew I was kidding but almost got me anyways.

The listen here kids is don't be so sure that you know what someone is going to say. I thought for sure she would say no way to cutting the grass, but I was WRONG!! And it almost cost me 2 hours of boredom!!

Did that really happen?

My day on Wednesday started good enough with a decent day of surfing the web and doing pretty much nothing at work (a typical day). I work in Harrisburg and in the mornings I take the bus to work. But in the afternoons I don't usually take the bus home. Why you ask. Okay, I will tell you.

I work from 7:45 to 4:15. Not to bad at all. But the bus that takes me back to where I park my truck comes by at what time? That's right, 4:10. And the managers in my office are sticklers for time and there is pretty much NO wiggle room. So I am stuck because the next bus does not come by until 4:45, if it is on time (which it rarely is).

So what do I do? I walk. About 2.5 miles across the river and what not. I don't have a problem with it. I actually get back to my truck earlier than if I wait for the bus. Plus I get exercise that I wouldn't otherwise get.

But if you remember I said the day STARTED good enough. That must mean that it gets worse somewhere along the way. Well it does.

When I got to my 92 Chevy pickup, I unlocked the door and got in. I put the key in the ignition and turned it, but wait....did it start? No of course not! I have had many problems with this truck in the past few months. This was the second time it was towed and the third time it was in the shop in 2008!!

The previous times were for not starting and not stopping! Yeah, like in a movie, the gas peddle stuck to the floor. It was fun!!

But anyways, back to the story. I call for someone to give me a jump, but that doesn't work. So I borrowed a car from my dad and got home.

Now, where I park there are other people that come to park and take the bus. It is a little street right beside a main road. And unfortunately for me there was plenty of room for someone to park their car in front of my truck the next morning. So if I wanted to get it towed I would have to move it. No big deal.

I call a couple buddies because I thought it would take at least 2 of us to push it forward. It didn't. I got there before either of them and I moved it myself. So I waited for them to get there and we chatted for a little while in dark (at this point it was about 9pm).

And then it happened......

We are just standing and sitting next to or on our vehicles when this old guy who was out for a walk just stopped and started talking. He started with stuff about how Harrisburg's minor league baseball team sucks. They had just lost the previous day 12-2 and he was not pleased. Then he started complaining about how the Capitals got hosed in their playoff game the night before. Next it was about the Flyers and their past players. He was talking about guys I have never ever heard of. And he was just going on and on about it all. Then it went back to baseball for something about Barry Bonds going to the Yankees!! HUH????

I couldn't stop laughing at this guy. He just comes out of nowhere and starts bitching and complaining about different sports themes. Unreal!!

Now don't get me wrong, he was a nice friendly guy out for a walk and looking for a chat. But it was just so surreal. I would have to say that we were pretty lucky that this guy wasn't some serial killer or something. Because lets be honest, who does that kind of stuff anymore.

A True Fan

Before I start this post I must confess that I am not a long time Washington Capitals fan. I am originally a Hershey Bear's fan. I have become a huge Hershey fan in the past couple of years and many of the Bears from those seasons are now playing in Washington. So because I was not a fan of any particular team I chose to root for the Capitals. I am now a big Capitals fan and have watched just about every game this season.

Now on to the post:

I watched game 7 of the Capitals first round playoff matchup last night. I was pumped. Jumping around and doing the cheers in my living room. It was exhilarating and nerve-racking all at the same time.

If you don't know much about the NHL playoffs then you probably won't understand the feeling. During the regular season I would watch games comfortably seated in my chair. In the playoffs I don't sit much, instead I pace and sit and then pace and sit some more. I am not down much and very rarely am I actually in a chair.

Last night was no exception. I started the game seated but found myself up yelling at the television early on. My wife says that it doesn't help to yell at the tv but I think it does. So I do it, often.

I am watching this game and everything is going ok. We started out leading 1-0 and then all of a sudden it seemed we were trailing 2-1. We tied it at 2 when our all star and probably league MVP Alexander Ovechkin scored. That got us to overtime....

Sudden death overtime.......if you are a fan of a team these will likely kill you someday!

I have experienced these before. The Hershey Bears found themselves in a game 7 overtime game a couple years ago that I was fortunate enough to be at. They won that game en route to the Calder Cup. But watching on tv is different, because you can't see everything coming. When you are at a hockey game you can see the whole ice and where all the players are. On tv that is not always possible. So as a fan you have no idea when a player from the other team is going to jump up into the action and beat you.

Well it happened last night. About 6 minutes into overtime the enemy Philadelphia Flyers scored the game winning goal on a rebound. Joffrey Lupul played hero for the Flyers while Tom Poti (in the penalty box) played goat for the Caps.

And just like that the season was over......huh? That's pretty much what it felt like. Horrible way to lose. In an instant all the thoughts of the second round and maybe a shot at the championship are gone. And you just can't believe it. You don't want to believe it.

Unless you are a true fan of a team you can not possibly understand these feelings. I was never a true fan of an NHL team until this season. I have felt this way about other teams in other sports but never the NHL.

And in hockey a sudden death overtime loss is exactly that......a sudden feeling of loss.

But the other think about being a true fan is that you know there is always next year!!

A New Beginning

This is a brand new site that I am starting today (obviously). My other sites (1,2,3) are all sports sites and while this one will bring some sports into it, it is really just for anything I want. I will probably mention places I have eaten, places I've been, movies I like, or music I listen to. Anything is open for discussion and I hope to hear from everyone who reads the blog. Give your opinion on what I say or add to it with thoughts of your very own.

I hope you enjoy it and I hope that you come back often!