Meaning of Life

Meaning of Life

I will start this post by stating once again that I have a very blessed life.  I can’t say that my life is perfect, because no one’s life is perfect.  I am grateful that I don’t get to plot every day in my life because I wouldn’t know how to plot the perfect day every day of my life.  I enjoy the variety that comes my way every day.  What makes my life blessed is how I respond to and deal with the multitude of things that come at me every day. 

With todays advanced technology many things are getting predictable.  I remember when I was a teenager working on the farm during the vacations from school, I loved going to bed at night and not knowing exactly what kind of weather I was going to be working in the next day.  Sometimes the smell of wet ground in the morning, and seeing the rain clouds moving away gave me a special sense of energy to start my day.  Today, I can look at the weather report and know what area of my town the rain or snow is going to be falling in.  I can see how fast the wind is going to be blowing, when it will pick up and when it will subside.  I realize that being able to predict the good and bad weather is a good thing, but a small piece of mystery and adventure is removed from everyday life.

Today is my birthday and that also is a good thing, I don’t like the alternative.  My youngest daughter woke up my 7 year old granddaughter and mention that today was grandpa’s birthday.  My granddaughters response was an incredulous response, “really, it’s never grandpa’s birthday!”  My idea of celebrating my birthday is a family dinner at home, or out to dinner with family members, minimally and every bit as good is dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with just my wife.  I am often asked what I want for my birthday, and I am sure you have heard the most common dilemma, what do you give the person that has everything.

 

I am fortunate to get whatever I want or need whenever I feel like it.  It sounds like I am bragging, but you would have to know me to understand what that means.  Within reason and within my means.  My seven year old granddaughter asked me today what I wanted for my birthday, and I told her that I was just glad to spend time with her, and her cousins (and family in general).  As I dropped my granddaughter off at her school she told me that she couldn’t wait to get home so we could play a game of Angry Birds, and some Mario Brothers.

If it weren’t for my grandchildren, I would simply be growing older, but because of them I was able to cheer us up on the way to school by playing Moves like Jagger, through the Bluetooth from my iPhone to the vehicle stereo system.  It’s funny how things change: when my children were young they had no choice but to listen to the oldies but goodies radio station whenever we traveled. Today you can find the likes of Justin Timberlake, Sy (Gangnam Style), Katy Perry, Pink, Black Eyed Peas, Train, and Christina Aguilera, on my iPhone.  Do you have any idea how awesome that makes me in the eyes of youth?  I can also move like Jagger if occasion calls for it!

Once again, my life is not perfect but it is awesome, when you have a happy and healthy family you are definitely blessed, and that is what I am.  Waking up every day of my life to my wonderful wife gives me the edge I need to start my day with a grateful heart.  I forgot to mention that I also have longevity going in my family line, many of my relatives lived into their 90’s, I guess that makes me almost middle aged.  The best is yet to come….

Sports Influence 2

Sports Influence 2

I’ve said it many times before, as long as you put forth your best effort, you can always be proud of your accomplishments.  It doesn’t matter if you walk away with the ultimate prize or end up second best.  Someone has to win and someone has to lose.

Last weekend Super Bowl Sunday had special meaning for me.  For the second time in 38 years the one team that has maintained my interest in the National Football League, the Seattle Seahawks were competing.  During the last two weeks of hype leading up to the Super Bowl, I was so strong in my support of the team that I knew we could walk away champions.  Just the same I told myself that there was a chance that we could end up second best, and I could live with it.

I invited family over to our home so that we could collectively lend our energy to our favorite team.  The family gathering alone made this event a winning situation.  This special day at our home was one of momentous jubilation even before the game started.  Our family gathering in itself was reason to be happy.  Plenty of food variety for everyone’s taste; definitely the best indoor tailgate party we have ever had. 

The fan base known as the 12 Man understand that our team is young and strong with only a handful of players entering and testing free agency next season and likely to move on.  Even the experts who have managed to ignore our team over the years are now comparing the Seahawks to the young Dallas Cowboys of the early 1990’s that went on to win 3 championships is short order.

Like many negative events in history where you will always know where you were when they happened, so will this championship.  Our family unit will always remember the time when our first championship was won and how we were all together enjoying our family unity in victory.

While there is a requirement to exercise good sportsmanship in victory as well as in defeat, there is no comparison to the feeling of being World Champions.  I hold a very strong respect for Peyton Manning and all his accomplishments, and very classy demeanor.  Go out and support your team because they depend on the fan base, besides, at least to date no one team is champion forever.  The best is yet to come…..

Honor, Integrity and Loyalty

Johnny Carson

I have been a loyal fan of the Tonight Show ever since I discovered The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. While I still feel that no one can replace Johnny Carson and I hated it when he announced his retirement, I supported his choice for replacement.  It’s one thing to have Carson himself anoint the person that would be his replacement, to having the head of NBC making moronic decisions for future wealth considerations. 

 

At present time and for a long time now, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno has been the leader in late night talk shows bar none.  You can’t possible feel that the NBC Network is replacing Jay to strengthen their position in the ratings.  They are replacing Jay with Fallon because they feel that the move amounts to an investment for future ratings with a younger host most likely to appeal to the younger viewers.  News Flash!!!!  The younger audience is most likely to be entertained by night clubbing, or Cable Networks rather than the fare offered by a Tonight Show format.  If their assumptions is true; why isn’t the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon more popular than the Tonight Show with Jay Leno?

NBC already tried to back stab Jay Leno once before with Conan O’Brien, and later fired Conan to bring back Jay Leno because the ratings had dropped and finally settled in third place amongst the competition.

What the network morons don’t realize is that we have larger numbers in Leno’s demographic audience than Fallon has in his younger demographics.  We of my generation have a great understanding of the things that matter: Honor, Integrity, and Loyalty.  Equally important I appreciate quality.  I personally will watch pre-recoded programs from earlier in the evening if I feel the desire to stay awake late.  When the network drops Jay Leno they are dropping my viewership.

This is an instance once again where the mucky mucks of television programing are ready to cram their money making ideas and plans into our viewing time.  Well sir, not to me, and not this time.  When Leno steps away for the last time, so does NBC at 11:35 weeknight as far as I am concerned.  Their biggest problem may be that I may decide to catch a different network for the 11pm news cast.  I only watched NBC because I knew that Leno followed.

 

I am not trying to influence your thinking, I just could not allow this travesty to go down without posting my 25 cents worth.  If Leno goes to another network, whether with a talk show or a show about his fine car collection, that is where you will find me.  I wish Mr. Leno the best because a fine individual like him will land on his feet (not to mention that he is already doing mighty well).  The best is yet to come…..

Expect To Be Humbled

Expect To Be Humbled

I’ve always thought of myself as Yogi Bear used to say “Smarter than the Average Bear!”  Yet as life treats us well, and doesn’t throw us any challenges, we forget that there is a humbling waiting at every turn.  It’s easy to see those lessons at every corner.

Another of my favorite saying is that if you have children you most likely will be humbled when you least expect it.  That is not to say that I expect bad things from all children, but it does mean that their inexperience will come through when you least expect it and embarrass you.  I’ve recently watched some television programing where very wealthy people involved in financial fraud schemes got caught and arrested.  They actually looked not only human but actually looked like weaklings where right up to the arrest they had been all-powerful.

This time around the humbling is of a more personal nature.  I was walking into the garage through the mud room, and I heard a high pitch whine as I walked past the central heating furnace. I recognized the sound as a fan bearing gone bad.  Before I could reach the wall switch to turn it off, it went back to normal.  In my mind I made the decision to keep it running after all the nights are getting into the low 30’s.  My on call technician was down with the flu, and no one else was able to respond in less than 4 days.  The humbling comes in that I am reminded of how it was to grow up in a household where my stepfather was frugal, and would turn off the heat by 9 pm to save money.  The first to wake up around 4 am would start the oil heater to warm up the house, and believe me you could see your breath in the house.

Well, the emergency forced us to survive with the use of the fireplace heat (which is turned off when we go to bed) and an electric (reflective) heater which we turn on to low in the bedroom.  I must admit that you get so lulled into the comforts of just trusting the systems all around you that you never even give comfort a second thought.  My wife has been baking during the day to make use of the heat from the oven to keep warm, and wearing layered clothing also helps.

Always remember to expect the unexpected, and by all means be grateful for all the comforts that you enjoy.  Our furnace will be repaired or replaced within the next 24 hours, for now I am grateful for my blessings.  The best is yet to come….