Sunday, January 31, 2010
Recommending "The Lope"
Just a short blog today....I highly recommend you go take a look at Greg's blog. Here's the link: http://thelope.com/blog.htm He's posted some gorgeous shots of the hoar frost. This is what talented photographers are capable of doing. Check it out!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Snowy Day - A Funny Story
It has snowed here...I've heard any where from 1 1/2 inches to 8 inches. Truly it's just a "light to medium" snow. Not bad. Streets are pretty much cleared off. My son shoveled my driveway a couple of times and it's about melted clear now. Temperature isn't too bad...all in all kind of a pretty snow.
However.....that means I'm bored. My horoscope for today(and NO, I don't believe in them, but for fun I DO read them) says: Take care of personal business today. Stay out of group discussions that lead nowhere. You have excess energy to apply as you run errands. Take the bike!
'Scuze me???? I'm not especially feeling any "excess energy" and if I go run any errands (and I don't plan to!!) I sure won't be taking the bike!!!! I have on occassion been considered a "serious rider"....but I'm not THAT serious!!!!
I had lunch with a friend the other day and she related a funny story to me. It seems a group of her friends have dinner (here in Kansas, that's "supper") together once a week. Well, this particular evening she was expecting a phone call from her son, and sure enough, shortly after arriving at the restaurant, he called. It was noisy, so she excused herself and went into the ladies' room. She said she tends to pace when talking on the phone and she kept hearing a little "hum"...."hum"....."hum"..... but didn't think much of it..figured it was an automatic air freshener or something. But after a few minutes she turned to see that she'd been pacing in front of the paper towel dispenser...the one with a sensor to roll out a towel...and the towels were down to the floor!!!!!
I saw humor and laughed!!!! Someone else I related this story too didn't...his response was, "Did she clean it up?" Hmmmmm.... I didn't ask.
With that....have a bright day...don't forget to count your blessings...
However.....that means I'm bored. My horoscope for today(and NO, I don't believe in them, but for fun I DO read them) says: Take care of personal business today. Stay out of group discussions that lead nowhere. You have excess energy to apply as you run errands. Take the bike!
'Scuze me???? I'm not especially feeling any "excess energy" and if I go run any errands (and I don't plan to!!) I sure won't be taking the bike!!!! I have on occassion been considered a "serious rider"....but I'm not THAT serious!!!!
I had lunch with a friend the other day and she related a funny story to me. It seems a group of her friends have dinner (here in Kansas, that's "supper") together once a week. Well, this particular evening she was expecting a phone call from her son, and sure enough, shortly after arriving at the restaurant, he called. It was noisy, so she excused herself and went into the ladies' room. She said she tends to pace when talking on the phone and she kept hearing a little "hum"...."hum"....."hum"..... but didn't think much of it..figured it was an automatic air freshener or something. But after a few minutes she turned to see that she'd been pacing in front of the paper towel dispenser...the one with a sensor to roll out a towel...and the towels were down to the floor!!!!!
I saw humor and laughed!!!! Someone else I related this story too didn't...his response was, "Did she clean it up?" Hmmmmm.... I didn't ask.
With that....have a bright day...don't forget to count your blessings...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Semi-retraction ... MY sense of humor
Regarding my previous blog...well...so I guess I'm supposed to eat crow here because I wasn't sharp enough to pick up on the fact that Conan is supposed to be funny and that he really wasn't throwing all of NBC's money after poor taste. I watched last night and heard him say it was all fake...it wasn't real...ha ha ha. I have a very poor sense of humor...ask anyone that knows me...they'll tell ya!
So...as an apology to all of you who were upset with my blog...here's my promise: No matter what venue, what channel, I will NEVER watch Conan O'Brien again! Good enough? That way I won't get confused and post such ugliness about such a great guy.
So...as an apology to all of you who were upset with my blog...here's my promise: No matter what venue, what channel, I will NEVER watch Conan O'Brien again! Good enough? That way I won't get confused and post such ugliness about such a great guy.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Conan - World's Biggest Jerk
OK...so right up front...I'll tell ya...go back if you're easily offended. Stop now! Remember I've said before: my blog...my opinion.
I have NEVER liked Conan...when I heard he was going to take over the Tonight Show I knew I'd be getting more sleep. I'm not overly wild about Letterman so after the nightly news I'd go to sleep.
However, this whole uproar of Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien drew my interest and I've kind of been watching just to hear the jabs: both Leno and Conan. (Conan I've only watched for the past three nights.) Last night was the ultimate piece of shit!!!! Before I started to write this I googled Conan and saw this piece written by John Milewski on the Huffington Post. It's entitled "Conan's Expensive Goodbye". I certainly cannot add more to it to improve it....at least now without using extensive swear words. Let me add just this: Conan is exactly what I've always thought he was!
Conan's Expensive Goodbye ....... (in part).. John Milewski
Millions of American's are losing or have lost their jobs. They are angry and their employment future is uncertain. That's where the kinship with Conan ends. Unlike Mr. O'Brien they didn't walking away with tens of millions in severance pay. And they certainly weren't provided with a high-profile pulpit from which they could publicly criticize their former employers.
I have no sympathy for NBC. This is a mess of their own making. When I tuned in I was squarely in Conan's corner and remain there on technical merit. After all, in negotiating the 45 million dollar exit deal, Conan made sure that 12 million of that would go to his staff. He is legendarily generous with those he employs and is widely regarded as a decent fellow. So while there is a clear disconnect related to how most of us lose our jobs and Conan is losing his, that's not the main source of my complaint.
My problem is with a segment introduced during the last couple nights in which something not very funny is done for the purpose of spending NBC's money. Last night's skit designed to waste network cash involved a racehorse in a mink watching restricted NFL programming. As advertised, it wasn't funny, but it did cost NBC 4.8 million dollars about which Conan gloated. He's having some pay back fun by burning NBC's money. The night before the price tag for gratuitous waste was 1.5 million and involved a ridiculously expensive automobile. The two-night total is a whopping 6.3 million dollars which is more than half of the 12 million total dedicated to severance packages for the show's staff. Adding to this offensive wastefulness is the fact that Rome, or at least Port-au-Prince, is burning. In fact, Conan made an appeal for donations to Ben Stiller's Haiti relief charity last night mere moments after reveling in the lame but expensive racehorse gag. Apparently it's not just Washington and Wall Street that doesn't get it.
I've been accused of being irreverent to a fault. I find humor in even the darkest scenarios. But given the stark contrast between the world of late night spats and the worlds of record unemployment and horror in Haiti I guess I've reached my limit. Conan O'Brien, because he could, wasted 6.3 million dollars of NBC's money on a sophomoric prank because he's angry that they've unfairly taken away his show. Who knows what tonight's total will be since he has 90 more minutes of air time to get even with the evil peacock network. Ben Stiller's charity and the people of Haiti could have done something quite different with that 6.3 million.
What amounts to chump change in the land of network shenanigans is huge money in the real world. In the real world it's the kind of money that can change lives or perhaps even save them. And while I know that there's no simple formula for moving such money from one place to another, I really don't care. The contradiction between multi-million dollar pranks and appeals for disaster relief from the same host on the same show separated by mere minutes was more disconnect from reality than I could stand and I just had to get it off my chest.
I have NEVER liked Conan...when I heard he was going to take over the Tonight Show I knew I'd be getting more sleep. I'm not overly wild about Letterman so after the nightly news I'd go to sleep.
However, this whole uproar of Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien drew my interest and I've kind of been watching just to hear the jabs: both Leno and Conan. (Conan I've only watched for the past three nights.) Last night was the ultimate piece of shit!!!! Before I started to write this I googled Conan and saw this piece written by John Milewski on the Huffington Post. It's entitled "Conan's Expensive Goodbye". I certainly cannot add more to it to improve it....at least now without using extensive swear words. Let me add just this: Conan is exactly what I've always thought he was!
Conan's Expensive Goodbye ....... (in part).. John Milewski
Millions of American's are losing or have lost their jobs. They are angry and their employment future is uncertain. That's where the kinship with Conan ends. Unlike Mr. O'Brien they didn't walking away with tens of millions in severance pay. And they certainly weren't provided with a high-profile pulpit from which they could publicly criticize their former employers.
I have no sympathy for NBC. This is a mess of their own making. When I tuned in I was squarely in Conan's corner and remain there on technical merit. After all, in negotiating the 45 million dollar exit deal, Conan made sure that 12 million of that would go to his staff. He is legendarily generous with those he employs and is widely regarded as a decent fellow. So while there is a clear disconnect related to how most of us lose our jobs and Conan is losing his, that's not the main source of my complaint.
My problem is with a segment introduced during the last couple nights in which something not very funny is done for the purpose of spending NBC's money. Last night's skit designed to waste network cash involved a racehorse in a mink watching restricted NFL programming. As advertised, it wasn't funny, but it did cost NBC 4.8 million dollars about which Conan gloated. He's having some pay back fun by burning NBC's money. The night before the price tag for gratuitous waste was 1.5 million and involved a ridiculously expensive automobile. The two-night total is a whopping 6.3 million dollars which is more than half of the 12 million total dedicated to severance packages for the show's staff. Adding to this offensive wastefulness is the fact that Rome, or at least Port-au-Prince, is burning. In fact, Conan made an appeal for donations to Ben Stiller's Haiti relief charity last night mere moments after reveling in the lame but expensive racehorse gag. Apparently it's not just Washington and Wall Street that doesn't get it.
I've been accused of being irreverent to a fault. I find humor in even the darkest scenarios. But given the stark contrast between the world of late night spats and the worlds of record unemployment and horror in Haiti I guess I've reached my limit. Conan O'Brien, because he could, wasted 6.3 million dollars of NBC's money on a sophomoric prank because he's angry that they've unfairly taken away his show. Who knows what tonight's total will be since he has 90 more minutes of air time to get even with the evil peacock network. Ben Stiller's charity and the people of Haiti could have done something quite different with that 6.3 million.
What amounts to chump change in the land of network shenanigans is huge money in the real world. In the real world it's the kind of money that can change lives or perhaps even save them. And while I know that there's no simple formula for moving such money from one place to another, I really don't care. The contradiction between multi-million dollar pranks and appeals for disaster relief from the same host on the same show separated by mere minutes was more disconnect from reality than I could stand and I just had to get it off my chest.
Friday, January 8, 2010
2010 is Here!
The New Year is UPON us - 2010 !!!!! Time to shape up!!!!
Vision without a plan is merely an hallucination!
I heard that earlier today when I was downstairs riding the trainer. I love it.. And HOW TRUE!!!!!!
The first photo here is my road bike...the one I usually ride. I love it. It's now about nine years old and I have no intentions of replacing it. I've had people tell me you don't put a
handlebar bag on this particular type/style of bicycle, but I bought it to enjoy, not to race!!! (And I know...some people ENJOY racing. I don't. I enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and little flowers at the edge of the road and a good cow-barn smell!!! And most of all I enjoy the companionship of my fellow riders!)
This second picture is of my older Trek on the trainer set up downstairs. I actually have ridden it almost every day since the day after Christmas. I've missed three days! I'm doing it to keep my knees moving more than anything. I only do 30 minutes, but I still manage to work up a good sweat every time! Riding this trainer probably ranks second to walking on a treadmill. Even with a tv going, etc...it's incredibly boring!!! Not as boring as walking on a treadmill, but still pretty darned boring.
This third photo is of one of my son's bicycles, and his rollers. I used to ride rollers years ago. For me, rollers indicate a death wish. On the trainer that my bike is on, only the back wheel moves and everything else is stationary. On rollers, everything moves. And if the rider slips too far to the left or right, he's off and usually into a wall. T'aint funny!!! Very serious riding. Also far more energy is spent..which is good. I won't even try them anymore.
Easiest way to get started on rollers is to set them up in a doorway and brace your shoulder against the frame of the door. That way until you're sure of your balance you can kind of support yourself. Like I said, death wish. Pure suicide.
So...I've got the riding part and a little jazzercise going pretty good....but about the diet part....hasn't changed much. Still consume far too much sugar and sweets and gooey stuff...not nearly enough "greenery" (unless gummy bears and M&M's count!!!??). Soon I'll start trying to do better there too.......she said.
Weather is awful. It's cold. But as I always say "Count your blessings!!!" Hutchinson seems to be one of few places that doesn't have snow...or at least much snow. We have "dustings" from time to time, but virtually no accumulation. Count your blessings!!!
Vision without a plan is merely an hallucination!
I heard that earlier today when I was downstairs riding the trainer. I love it.. And HOW TRUE!!!!!!
The first photo here is my road bike...the one I usually ride. I love it. It's now about nine years old and I have no intentions of replacing it. I've had people tell me you don't put a
handlebar bag on this particular type/style of bicycle, but I bought it to enjoy, not to race!!! (And I know...some people ENJOY racing. I don't. I enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and little flowers at the edge of the road and a good cow-barn smell!!! And most of all I enjoy the companionship of my fellow riders!)This second picture is of my older Trek on the trainer set up downstairs. I actually have ridden it almost every day since the day after Christmas. I've missed three days! I'm doing it to keep my knees moving more than anything. I only do 30 minutes, but I still manage to work up a good sweat every time! Riding this trainer probably ranks second to walking on a treadmill. Even with a tv going, etc...it's incredibly boring!!! Not as boring as walking on a treadmill, but still pretty darned boring.
This third photo is of one of my son's bicycles, and his rollers. I used to ride rollers years ago. For me, rollers indicate a death wish. On the trainer that my bike is on, only the back wheel moves and everything else is stationary. On rollers, everything moves. And if the rider slips too far to the left or right, he's off and usually into a wall. T'aint funny!!! Very serious riding. Also far more energy is spent..which is good. I won't even try them anymore.
Easiest way to get started on rollers is to set them up in a doorway and brace your shoulder against the frame of the door. That way until you're sure of your balance you can kind of support yourself. Like I said, death wish. Pure suicide.
So...I've got the riding part and a little jazzercise going pretty good....but about the diet part....hasn't changed much. Still consume far too much sugar and sweets and gooey stuff...not nearly enough "greenery" (unless gummy bears and M&M's count!!!??). Soon I'll start trying to do better there too.......she said.
Weather is awful. It's cold. But as I always say "Count your blessings!!!" Hutchinson seems to be one of few places that doesn't have snow...or at least much snow. We have "dustings" from time to time, but virtually no accumulation. Count your blessings!!!
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