My Washington Redskins
Several weeks ago, we were at the Poquoson Seafood Festival and I spotted a guy in his 30’s, wearing a T-shirt, and sporting tattoos all over his body. By his side was a female companion with just as many. Years ago, the only people with tattoos were those in the military, mostly GI’s and sailors. Today, it seems as if everyone under 30 has one. Some are tastefully done, a small design around the ankles, or one on the shoulder blade. Most of these are worn by females. Our males seem to be more aggressive with theirs, almost always, wearing them in a prominent place, to be seen by all. Girls, it seems to me, wear them as body decoration. Guys, on the other hand, are making a statement. Personally, I see no harm in them, but, like anything done excessively, tattoos all over your body seems to be over the edge. Years ago I hired a young black fellow. By the end of his second week he was sporting an earring. “Randyâ€, I say to him, “when I hired you, you weren’t wearing an earringâ€. He looked at me and smiled, “I knew you wouldn’t hire me†he says. Today earrings are worn by many men and we think nothing of it. My, how times have changed.
Well, the saga of the garage door opener continues. I am almost finished with the installation that was started more than a week ago. Last week I had the Opener in place, plugged it in and pushed the button to raise the door. Nothing! Several pushes later I realized this thing wasn’t working. After a lot of analyzing, I determined the unit was not processing the electricity it received. A call was made to Sears and in a few days one of their installers came out to assess the situation. “Wellâ€, says she, “it looks like it has dropped, one of the boards inside is crushedâ€. This is when I pointed to the box and showed her that it had been returned to the store by someone else. I think that when she glanced around the garage and noticed all the Craftsman/Sears tools, she decided they did not want to lose a good customer by accusing me of dropping the unit. Plus, she could not deny the unit had been returned by someone else. The new unit is now installed and working properly. I still have to figure out how to get the two remotes working properly.
I just finished spreading lime and fertilizer on our yard. The grass seed I sowed in early September has not done well due to very little rain. We received a good dose of rain yesterday (almost an inch), so everything should be soaked in and doing what it is suppose to do (make the grass grow and be very green). It is also approaching the time of the year when I should take the boat out of the water and stow it for the winter. I noticed that my friend Dick, who lives down the channel from us, removed his the other day. Whenever he removes his, I know it is time for me to do the same. I used my boat 3 times this past summer. Not much, but I plan on using it more next summer.
My Washington Redskins have not been doing well as of late and this Sunday they play the Dallas Cowboys (Dallas is my 2nd favorite team). My son is a Cowboy fan, having been born in Dallas, and so Sunday will be an exciting day for both of us, more for him then me, I suspect. Jerilyn’s daughter-in-law, Kathy, is a Cowboy fan also. If my ‘Skins lose I am in for a lot of harassment. If they win, my strut will be very pronounced. Sports can add a lot of flavor to our lives. It gives us something we can share with friends & family. We all need, in my opinion, something or someone to “root†for. It takes us away from our daily lives and entertains us. Humans have been entertained by sporting events for hundreds of years. That is even more so today. We can watch a sporting event 24 hours a day. Athletes are some of the best paid people in America. Some of the salaries they receive are outrageous. I have to locate my envy button and turn it off.
Our local newspaper has been carrying the flap about a $12 million donation to William & Mary University being revoked by a high school chum of mine (Jim McGlothin). Seems, Jim is upset because a cross was moved from its long held position to one less conspicuous. I knew Jim quite well as a high school student and although he went to church regularly, he was not overly religious. With a little research, I was able to discern that he is probably worth in excess of $800 million. I may be wrong here, but I suspect you cannot accumulate that much moolah without doing a lot of unchristian things. So, why be concerned about a cross placement at your alma mater? I suspect it has more to do about power than the placement of the cross. I believe that once you make a commitment, you should follow through with it. If you are unhappy with something, express your disappointment, but follow through with your commitment. It is a shame that all the good that could be accomplished by a donation that size to W&M University is lost. I have seen Jim once since our high school days. He has attended a few of our reunions, but, I was always absent at those (unintentionally). Were he to ask my advice, I would suggest he renew his pledge and work with the school board to resolve his concerns, all the while understanding that his will may not prevail. But, $12 million is a big club and entitles you to be a bully I guess.
For the last few days I have had a pain in the center of my heel on my left foot. The pain last for about 30 seconds, goes away completely for 3-4 minutes and then returns. It started Wednesday morning and finally subsided this morning. It hurt whether I was standing, sitting, or sleeping. The pain was not severe, but I definitely knew it was there. I just hope it does not return. I have no idea what caused it. Maybe, I’m being punished for unspecified wrongs. If so, I hope the punishment is over.
I hope you’re enjoying whatever season it is in your part of the world
Tommy
