1:13 am, 7/22/12

There's a military acronym that accurately describes my summer: Sx2, Dx2.  It stands for Same Sh!t, Different Day, and that's about what it has felt like this summer.  On one job, an unreliable backup was hired for me, and she has lived down to her reputation.  As a result, I am pulling 6 days/50+ hours a week there.  On the other, the GM (someone I consider a friend) can't trust anyone outside a small core group (including me), and as a result I am working a max schedule to help her out.  And people wonder why I pound caffeinated drinks and am grumpy much of the time.....

Let's continue with the grumpy theme and do a simple list:  5 Things Pissing Me Off Right Now.  As always, your mileage may vary....

5.) Sanctimonious A$$holes Using The Colorado Tragedy -  Right now, this encompasses three main groups.  First are the gun-control zealots, who are in full blather about how tougher gun laws would have prevented this event.  No one KNOWS how that might have changed things.  However, a.) only 1 of the 4 weapons used would have been subject to the most common gun control laws, b.) the subject did nothing illegal in obtaining any of the firearms or ammunition used in the attack nor given the gift of hindsight would he have been subject to any provision of law commonly used to block sales (criminal history, mental illness, etc.) and,  c.) this was a meticulously plotted, long term plan carried out by a patient, determined individual.  He would have gotten what he wanted, legally or not (To quote Jean Reno in "Godzilla", "This eez America.  You can buy anything here.").  Not to play favorites, the second group are the gun-rights people, primarily because of one idiotic premise being repeated like a mantra.  To those who say someone carrying a concealed gun might have prevented some or all of the casualties, allow me to retort.  If that were the case, now you have two armed parties firing at each other in a crowded, dark, smoke-filled environment.  Yep, I am certain that would have lowered the number of people visiting local hospitals and morgues.  Sit down and shut up please.  Finally, there are what I call the hand wringers.   They cry loud and long about what could have caused this young man to do the heinous things he did, trying desperately to fit him with a nice, neat label.  He's "crazy", "mentally ill", "insane", etc.  Guess what?  He is none of those things.  Philosopher Napoleon Hill famously wrote, "What the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."  That is exactly what James Holmes did, just like the 9/11 hijackers, the 1972 Munich Olympic terrorists, Unibomber Ted Kaczynski, and many others.  It is because the morality of their undertakings falls outside of what is generally considered "normal" that some try to use other labels to quantify them.  In turn that misuse of the above labels does a grave injustice to those whom they are truthfully applied.  The mentally ill don't deserve to be associated with killers and terrorists.  Remember, going back to the Garden of Eden, there has been evil in our world.  The individuals and groups listed above are just the snakes and Cains of the 21st Century. 

4.) Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - Roughly one-third of all American marriages end in divorce.  My first wife and I divorced after only 4 years of marriage.  So one more marriage is ending up on the scrapheap.  OK, move along, nothing more to see here.  I don't need any sordid details.  I don't need gloating over another failed celebrity marriage.  What I need is to stop having "news" outlets ramming this down my throat.

3.) Followers of Jersey Shore - I can't even begin to tell you how disgusted I am that any of the morons on this show have become popular.  Then I see them described as "role models" in a Rolling Stone magazine story.  Okay, lets see.  Arrogant individuals with an ridiculously strong sense of self entitlement?  Check.  Borderline alcoholism?  Check.  High risk sexual practices?  Check.  Likely drug and steroid abuse? Check.  Hell, yeah, just the kind of people I want my children emulating!  I live in a beach community, and more and more you hear the term "guido" when referring to this kind of person.  Trust me, it is not a term of endearment.

2.) Joe Paterno - I am just plain sick and tired of this whole, shrill debate.  I am not a Paterno or Penn State fan.  Frankly, outside of the disastrous Sandusky cover-up, they haven't had any relevance to me since the mid-1980's.  I would almost feel sorry for the broken man who died knowing his carefully constructed career and reputation were in tatters and forever tainted, except that from the moment the first revelations came out in 2010 about his lack of action given an eyewitness account of unconscionable child abuse it was crystal clear the safety of the child was his lowest priority.  From then it took less than a year to destroy a half century body of work.  Yet now, half a year after his death, people are still attacking him as if he were alive.  It's a one-sided debate, since he obviously can't defend himself.  Now the attacks have shifted to his statue, located outside the Penn State stadium.  The zealots want it removed, as if the statue was responsible for the abuse.  We can't honor a man who allowed this to happen, they cry.  Clearly, this faction wants everyone to believe that Paterno never did a single thing to benefit the university in his 50+ years there, and he should be judged solely by the Sandusky affair.  But perhaps the opposite approach would be better.  As Germany has kept the Holocaust concentration camp memorials as historical warnings to others, perhaps the Paterno statue should stay so that others might see it and say, "That's what can happen to a good man who made the terrible mistake of taking the easy path rather than the righteous one."  I don't have the answer.  I'm just sick of listening to the screams of those ready to cast the first stone.

1.) Lack of Commitment - Just show up.  How hard is that?  Apparently much more so than I realised.  At both my places of employment, it has proven to be damn near impossible.  At the hotel, the person hired to be my back-up and cover for days off has seemingly decided that the schedule is a severe obstacle to her living her life.  In fact, due to a variety of "ailments" she hasn't worked in almost 3 weeks.  At the restaurant, one assistant manager has abruptly pulled a Jimmy Hoffa (hasn't been seen in a week), another assistant manager refuses to work past his scheduled time regardless of how busy we are (and usually we are scrambling to cover all the work he was supposed to do but didn't), and an unfortunate number of the staff treat the schedule as a suggestion rather than the business plan it is supposed to be.  The result has been a summer the likes of which I have never encountered before.  I am working 85-95 hours a week.  Our family finally made it to the beach last week for the first time, and summer is half over!  My wife is hamstrung in almost anything she tries to plan due to my schedule and the fact I am exhausted when I am home.  Basically this summer has sucked (2 days excepted), and that is why other people's lack of commitment to do the bare minimums expected of them is the #1 thing pissing me off right now.

"Off with their heads!" - The Red Queen, "Alice in Wonderland"

What do you think?  Whiny bitchfest or Right on the Mark?  Let me know what you think.  Until next time, regards.  JW

2:39 am, 7/01/12

2:39 am.  Things here at work have finally quieted down a bit.  I find the respite boring, so what to do?  Might as well post something here.  But what?  I'm not the writer, my wife is the blogger in the family.  My sense of humor tends to the obscure, so that is out.  DC United won tonight by 3-0, but it was over Montreal, so conversation about that ends faster than France's participation in a competitive soccer tournament.  I haven't had free time to read or watch movies lately, so I can't even go there.  So how about we do 5 random thoughts from the world of sports that affect my favorite teams?.  From "Huh, how about that?"  to "Horny Playboy centerfolds couldn't distract me from this!"

5.) Keep it in your pants! - The worst kept secret in American sports is that a significant portion of our professional athletes are swingers/adulterers/philanderers of the highest order.  From the ribald and frequently drunken escapades of Babe Ruth to Tiger Woods sticking his "putter" in all the rough he could, sex "scandals" have embarressed many players, regardless of the sport.  So this week brings news that Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson is being shaken down by a stripper, and ex-NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens is trying to prevent a "girlfriend" from selling pictures of him masturbating.  A number of media outlets are treating this as a big deal.  I say, "So what?"  A secret isn't a secret if more than one person knows it.  Having said that, none of the people involved here are angels.  Jackson (the adulterer) is being "extorted" by a stripper with a list of criminal convictions that would make a seasoned hooker blush, while Owens is suddenly afraid that after his ex- got the pictures, she would try to make a quick buck selling them (sort of like how he's whoring himself out now to any pro or semi-pro football team that will listen).  My question is, by what thought process did any of these four think these escapades would end well?  Then again, I may be giving too much credit to any of them by expecting rational thought.

4.) Orioles trade for Jim Thome - Quelle surprise!  Baltimore made a trade that didn't involve a salary dump, a desperate grab for "prospects" or getting fleeced by sharper GM's.  This deal actually makes a lot of sense.  The Orioles, despite their shockingly competitive start to the season, can't hit.  Thome is at the age (41) where he is a totally useless in the field, BUT he can still swing the bat with venom.  The designated hitter was created for guys like him.  The Phillies clear a roster spot for someone who can actually reach down to their ankles to field a grounder, plus take a flier on a couple of very raw prospects (neither of whom had a prayer of contributing to the Orioles within the next 3-4 years).  Even if Philly gets nothing from the prospects, this is a deal that can help both clubs in the short term.  Not bad, Orioles.  Not too bad at all.

3.) Wizards fail to screw up the Draft - Despite a debatable trade just a couple of days before the 2012 NBA draft (I thought the Ernie Grunfeld should have either kept their draft pick OR gotten more from the Hornets), the Wizards still managed to get the player they coveted and most analysts seem to agree was the best fit for their team.  By drafting guard Bradley Beal, the Wiz hopefully have an ouside shooter who can force teams to stop packing the middle against John Wall's slashing drives.  Of course, they promptly wasted their 2nd round pick on a Euro guard who will likely never make an impact on the NBA, rather than picking from several well regarded players still available at the time. Nevertheless, in the past few days thay have added the shooter they wanted, a decent big man in Okafor and a hard working veteran in Trevor Ariza at the cost of Rashard Lewis and a late draft pick.  While no one can be sure how this will turn out, I am a little happier about the Wizards and their situation than I was a week ago.

2.) Good News/Bad News about Chris Pontius - As is becoming routine of late, Chris Pontius turned in another stellar effort for DC United tonight in their 3-0 win over Montreal.  The highlight was an excellent slithery run that turned 3 defenders inside out before finishing with a supurb left footed strike to open the game's scoring.  It's clear now (after 9 goals in 18 games) that Pontius is fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered at the end of last season.  It should also provide more evidence to US National team manager Jurgen Klinsmann that Pontius is ready for another look as perhaps (best case scenario) a Clint Dempsey protege.  The bad news is that Pontius' body of work has not gone unnoticed by international scouts, and the others whispers concerning him are about a move to a European club, specifically Socheaux (likely based on a recommendation from Charlie Davies) and Rennes.  Hopefully those moves are a ways off, and Pontius can help lead United on the deep playoff run we fans have so desperately craved for 8 long years.

1.) Spain v. Italy - A decent, if not sparkling Euro 2012 ends later today with the final between defending champs Spain and an Italy side looking for a first major title since 2006.  Spain has looked almost bored at times, though that is partly because a disturbing number of opponents just packed everyone back on defense and played for a tie or penalties.  Since it's opening tilt against Spain in the first game of group play (a 1-1 draw), Italy has played a more attacking style led by Pirlo, di Natale and Ballotelli.  Hopefully they continue this approach rather than bunkering the defense again, but I still don't think their shaky back four can hold up against the likes of Pedro, Xabi Alonso, Fabregas, Iniesta and the rest of the Spanish attack.  I think Italy will give it a solid effort, but in the end Spain will simply be too good.  3-1 Spain.

Well, those are my over-caffinated musing for today.  Hope you enjoyed.  Regards, JW