Meat and Potatoes

[sabby]

Here is where the majority of thoughts, feelings and views are going to be. It will be locked so that references will be easy to locate. I will have links to threads for responses on each subject. I don't mind if the thread gets a little sidetracked, but PLEASE, keep comments as relative to the subject at hand as possible. Thank you, and without further adieu...

Money trumped by stupidity

NBA Basketball player Gilbert Arenas was recently suspended indefinitely for bringing a weapon into the arena locker room where he and his team play. Arenas recently signed a six year, 111 million contract extention in 2008 and now might have the contract voided because of the incident.

The incident started when Arenas was approached by teammate Javaris Crittenton about a gambling debt that Arenas owed him. Arenas then place some guns on a stool with a note on them. Crittenton took offense and grabbed his own gun. Arenas says it was just a joke.

Joke, huh? Sorry, joke's over when a hand gun is pulled out. Does Arenas actually think this is funny? Does he actually think that Crittenton thought it was still a joke when the guns were laid out in front of him? The only laughter that might ensue from that is that of someone who realizes they are in front of some crazy person that can harm them.

Do not tell me this is a racial matter. I do not want to hear that it is a part of so called "Black culture". Do LeBron James or Kobe Bryant carry hand guns? To my knowledge, no. If they did, I am pretty positive they would not bring it into their locker room.

This is an intelligence issue. If you are making that much money, do you really need to be carrying a gun? If you are in that type of high profile life style, you can hire protection for yourself. If you are holding that much money on you, whether it be in cash or jewelry, you're stupid. If you are in a sketchy area (by choice) where you feel your life may be threatened, you're stupid. I will never know what it is like to have that much money, but I would think common sense would steer me clear of those situations.

Speaking of which, what has happened to "common sense"? It seems to me, more and more people are showing less and less of it. It should almost be a requirement for high school graduation. People are different, I understand and fully embrace this fact, but isn't common sense universal.

That's how I see it, now get off my lawn.

Feel free to comment about this here.

[sabby]

Grandparents and Ringtones

There was a story sometime last week in Florida about a 92 year old man who mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brakes and ended up in the dining area of a restaurant. There was only one minor injury and the estimated damage to the restaurant was about $25,000 so all in all not bad. A funny side note, when the elderly man got out of the car, he went into the restaurant, placed an order, then asked if everyone was alright.

Now where am I going with this. I have the utmost respect for the generations that have preceded mine. I believe they have experienced so much and can teach us things so that we don't repeat the same mistakes they may (or may not) have done. They should, however, not be allowed to drive after a certain age (I'm thinking a good even number like 70). The reaction time is not what it used to be. You could argue it is age discrimination, but I think that if it endangers the public safety as a whole, then something should be done.

So what should be done. I think that maybe a program should be created to transport these people at no charge. There is public transportation in place in most cities also taxi services for just this particular grouping. Now you may be thinking, what is this going to cost the taxpayer. Who knows? I figure that while you are in your "money making" years (I think that age group is primarily 30-65 roughly) you are paying more in taxes than in your "deciding" (18-29) and "golden" (66+) years. Maybe think of it as part of your retirement package for a job well done. So sorry mom and dad, but in 2020, I'm taking away your driver's licenses and I'll be going to the DMV on April 5, 2044 (day before my 70th birthday) to render my license void.

Another thing that drives me crazy when I am behind the wheel is when someone has a cell phone glued to the side of their face when they are driving. I'm happy to see that some states have laws against the use of cell phones while driving. Last weekend (I kid you not), I saw a lady in her vehicle talking on a cell phone, run through a red light, almost hit three other vehicles, and had a blown out tire. This was in the SAME INTERSECTION. GET OFF THE DARN PHONE!!!!! YOUR FRIEND REALLY DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE DOING EVERY SECOND OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Well, there are my gripes for this week, now where did I put my glasses

Feel free to comment about this here.

[sabby]

Just Wait Til Next Year

The start of every new year brings thoughts of renewal, of changes for the better. The phrase "This year will be better." or "I am going to try and <insert some sort of vice or improvement here>." You know what I'm talking about, New Year's Resolutions, a good chunk of us do it, I am no exception.

My resolutions for 2010 are:

• Be a better father and husband (never attainable but improvement is better than nothing at all.)
• To read more.
• To drop down to about 155 lbs. starting from 170(or at least my body fat percentage from 25 to 20).

They aren't much, but they are where I want to be come December 31, 2010. This leads me to this thought, why do we wait until the end of the year to make these promises? Secondly, why do we break these promises a week or two after we make them?

The first question is kind of funny to me. I (like most) wait until the end of the year to make my resolutions. Why not start the day you think of them? Most (I would say 90%+) resolutions are to improve upon some vice that people have, rather it be smoking, drinking and the like. The thing is, we know these things are bad for us and it usually takes some monumental event in life to make us change. Is the beginning of the year that monumental to where we need to make change? Which sort of answers the second question, that it's not the big of an event since they seem to be broken after the first few days of the new year.

I can happily say that as of today, I am truly loved by my girls, I'm a little behind in my reading, but I am doing more than I did before, and I have lost about 4 pounds by working out at least 30 minutes six days a week. All in all, not a bad start to 2010.

So make 2010 memorable, and if you have already broken your resolutions, start them back up, now go on, get.

Feel free to comment on this here.

[sabby]

Reality Bites

My television time is usually very limited (especially this time of year). When I do get a chance to flip through the channels I see all sorts of garbage, but the one I do not understand the popularity of is the reality show.

Shows like Survivor, American Idol, and Real World (just to name a slight few) are supposed to show people in real life situations and how they react. Really?!?! I didn't realize that getting drunk and throwing up all over the place while showing off six-pack abs and sleeping with every roommate that you can. Better yet, yesterday I was stranded on a deserted island and the only way I can get off is to be thrown off by complete strangers or I can stay in hopes for a bigger bank account when I get back to the states.

Better yet, lets go around and follow around a egocentric woman and a lazy good for nothing guy who go to a fertility clinic and have six kids after having twins. Who didn't see this train wreck coming? Those kids were already going to have problems, now, sign them up for a life time of psychiatric visits. Don't worry, it will probably be televised starting in 2020. Welcome to "A Couch Plus Eight".

At least it is giving B and C list actors jobs again. We can watch washed up and unknown actors that think they are privileged and are wondering why people aren't serving them with silver spoons or throwing rose petals at their feet go and whine about why they can't afford their Bentley payments.

How's this for reality? You get up. Exercise a bit. Take a shower. Have breakfast. Drive to work. Work. Have lunch. Work some more. Drive home. Have dinner while putting the kids to bed. Do a little reading. Turn the TV on to see there is absolutely nothing on. Go to bed. Rinse and repeat. Yeah, not very exciting but everyone else seems to have a show, why not me. I'll call it, "Help, I'm An American With Talent Surviving My Real World While Not Being Idolized, Get Me Out Of Here." Yeah, that's ratings gold right there.

Feel free to comment on this here.

[sabby]

Football Downtime

First off, congratulations to the Saints for winning the Super Bowl. I would have had no complaints on either team winning (although I was thinking that the Colts were going to be the ones to score 31 points, but oh well.).

Now for what I want to talk about. Now that the big game is over and the results are in ( a 46.4 Nielsen rating) many fans of the NFL are struggling, if not calling in to work because of the festivities. The day after the Super Bowl is the LEAST productive, non-holiday day on the calendar in the United States. I have a way to fix this and it's not like we haven't heard this before.

Put the Super Bowl on Saturday. Yes, it doesn't quite have the ring as "Super Sunday", but after a two week break, is it really going to make much difference if you put the game on one day earlier. Are that many people going to not watch it because it is on Saturday instead of Sunday? Saturday is usually the worse television ratings night of the week, but seriously, the Super Bowl is an event all unto itself, you could place it against American Idol and it would get incredible ratings.

Now some of you may think, that's great, but I go to church on Sunday. Am I just supposed to miss that? To that I say, that is just an excuse. If you would watch the game on Sunday, you would watch it on Saturday and go to church regardless.

If you are more of a traditionalist and can't see the game being on any other day than Sunday, I propose this, a new holiday, Super Monday. The day should be a paid holiday, I mean there are so many "made-up" holidays anyway, what's another one.

That's about it. Time for me to stare blankly at my computer screen and look up more stuff online about the game.

Feel free to comment here.

[sabby]

Soap and Other Symbols You Find With the Shift Key

Seems like there is a big debate around here (on RU) on whether or not we should allow/disallow certain words that now appear as common place in network television but may have not been allowed in that same medium a decade or so ago. As time moves on, the FCC and the censors (they may be one in the same, but I digress) allow more and more as "society" allows it to be acceptable.

I'm sure most of you know where I stand on the issue, but for those of you who don't, here it is. I don't think you should have to swear under any circumstance, but I do know that it happens. Swearing is used for spur of the moment, emotional responses, not for something you feel strongly or passionate about, there is a difference. Let me explain:

If I miss a nail with a hammer and hit my thumb, I may drop an F-Bomb, maybe not. But regardless, it would be an spur of the moment, emotional response to an event.

If I am commenting about something I care about (be it family, religion, sports team, etc.), there is no reason, under any circumstance, to throw in a swear word in the conversation. If it is something I know or deeply care about, there is no reason to need to throw in an explicative where the word "very" or "really" would work just as well.

When I read posts and there is a swear word in it, I usually just pass over it due to the fact that the person that posted it is using emotion (and not thinking clearly) instead of passion (thought out) to try and prove their point. You are not going to convince an educated person of your point if you throw in the extra curse. You have PLENTY of time to look over your post or find a different word to explain your point, if you think you do not, don't post, you're not a grown up.

It's time to step up to the big boy (or girl) table. It's not the fourth grade where you sat their and giggled every time some one dropped a "bad" word in your group when the teacher wasn't around. Clean it up.

Feel free to comment here.

[sabby]

Keeping Our Rodents Fed


Wow, it has been a while huh? After gorging myself again this Thanksgiving holiday made me think of something that I have often wondered about.

One night a while back, I was kicking back watching a basketball game, it was a few hours after dinner and I was getting a little hungry. I went to the snack cupboard (yes, I have one of those, sure to be out of reach of the kiddies.) to grab some of my snacking stand-bys: Bag of Doritos (Nacho Cheese flavor for those who are wondering) and a Diet Pepsi (helps to get more Doritos down). During a commercial (and half a bag later), I noticed the nutrition facts on the back of the bag, I don't know why, but I was waiting for the commercials, so hey, why not.

I looked at the label, and the first thing listed made me laugh. Right under the giant NUTRITION FACTS lettering was the following:

Serving size: 1 oz (about 12 chips). Servings per container: About 13

12 chips?? 12 CHIPS!!! Who in the world grabs a bag of chips, eats 12 and says, "Whoa, can't have another, that serving was enough to fill me.", a mouse, maybe a lab rat or something? I don't know about you, but in my reality I call that 3 bites.

So now that the realization of eating nearly 7 servings of chips has hit me, it made me think, "Why do they not put a real person's serving size on the bag?" Realistically, a quarter bag is a realistic serving size (OK, I'll admit it, I'm a pig.) Put on the bag, One serving = 1/4 of the bag, throw on a big fat 700 calories on there, and 35 grams of fat, Sodium daily value at 32%, now you have a party.

Then I took a look at my Diet Pepsi container, (20 oz. size for those of you keeping score at home), and had to laugh again, serving size - 8 oz. Servings per container - 2.5. Glad I'll be able to save the rest of that for later, oh wait, I DRANK IT ALL ALREADY!!!

The next morning, I looked at what I though was my healthy breakfast cereal. I looked at the serving size, one cup = 140 calories. So for giggles, I grabbed a measuring cup from the drawer and poured one cup. I dumped the cereal in the bowl and then proceeded to tap the cup hoping that more would pour out. I got nothing. I looked at the contents of the bowl, looked at the box, and looked at the bowl again. I then grabbed the cereal box and poured a real person's serving, which was probably about 2 1/2 cups.

I know that obesity has become an epidemic in the states and it will continue to get worse before it gets better. Most people overlook the nutrition values on the back or sides of the food that they eat. But for those that do glance at those from time to time, wouldn't it be nice to put a realistic serving size on the container. Wouldn't that deter a few people from eating the way they do if they see a 1,500 calorie per serving on the label? Maybe.

Feel free to comment here.