My Least Favorite Meal of the Year

You know, I don't really care for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Rattle off the main dishes: stuffing - don't like it; mashed potatoes and gravy - don't like it; cranberry sauce - don't like it; turkey - don't really care for it, only eat it once a year.

So, Thanksgiving Day is not my favorite meal of the year. However, my mom redeems everything with her homemade noodles and homemade rolls (and topping it off with homemade pumpkin and apple pie). Without that, I'd have to order a pizza. Thank you mom!

Ugh, It's United Way Time!

I really hate when this rolls around each year. Time again for us to give to our employer's United Way campaign. We have to be convinced each year how much good they do and that this year "let's break our previous giving record." Emails come at you hoping you'll give so that "we can say our department had 100% participation" in this year's campaign.

Well, my department will never have 100% participation, and that's all because of me. My feelings about United Way go back about 20 years when I was working in Arizona. While there, the pressure was enormous to give so we could get our 100% participation plaque to display in our conference room. Never mind if someone was basically coerced into giving, we still got our plaque. I indeed did give, because one was quite frankly bugged (i.e. harrassed) until they gave at least something. That's not charity to me, so when I left that job I vowed to never give again to this organization, and I haven't. Furthermore, it was implied that if you didn't give to United Way, you didn't give to any charity. Wrong again!

Does that mean I don't believe in what they do? No, they do a fine job. Although, I must say that the year I left Arizona was the same year the William Aramony scandal broke where it turned out the national chairperson was pilfering all those dollars for himself. That gave me even more reason not to give. Furthermore, I read United Way's campaign manual years ago and there was a specific reference in there about employee participation. United Way itself said that 100% participation was NOT a desired outcome, because that would mean some employees had likely been coerced into giving. But I don't think they exactly discouraged this from happening, because high-pressure campaign tactics have always been used everywhere I've worked.

So, here we are once again in the midst of a fundraising campaign and I'll probably have to fight off those emails about giving. I've had a couple run-ins with employees over the years pushing the issue, but I ain't backing down on this one.

By the way, I reread United Way's manual not too long ago. The part about discouraging 100% participation? No longer in there. Hmm.

Smokey, McGruff, and Stephanie

USA Today reported that the group behind Smokey the Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog have developed a new campaign to convince people of the need to go through inspections before boarding airplanes. Evidently, people aren't as compliant as they once were and are especially annoyed at having to remove their shoes. So, they are bringing in "Stephanie the airport screener" as part of their new campaign.

Back in 2001, I flew to Kansas City for a conference about 2 weeks after 9/11 (much to the dismay of Dorene). However, if ever you wanted to pick a safe time to fly, it would have been then. I remember going through the airport check points and no one had any complaints. Heck, I think you could have made people wait 2 hours per person and they wouldn't have minded. Check my luggage? Sure. Check my shoes? No problem. Leaving the plane, everyone was thanking the pilot and just being so polite overall. I was impressed how quickly the TSA was put together and how well everything seemed to work.

It's now been 7 years since 9/11, so it's easy to understand that people would return to getting more annoyed by the prospect of missing their flight than it being hijacked. Will there be another attack? Well, the two attacks on the World Trade Center took place 1 month and 9 months into a new President's administration. Hopefully Joe Biden is incorrect and something will not happen within 6 months of Obama being inaugurated to test him.

Back in My Son's Good Graces

Last spring when I returned home from a table tennis tournament without a trophy, Cameron was very disappointed. He asked if I was done forever playing table tennis. Guess he figured I was washed up if I couldn't bring home a trophy every time (the previous tournament I had brought home two).

So, this past Sunday, I played in the Highland Open tournament in northwest Indiana. Played well enough in one of the events to bring home a 2nd place trophy pictured above. Probably should have finished first, because the kid I lost to I regularly beat at the South Bend club. But he was on his game and I just couldn't get past him.

In fact, it seemed like I was playing kids all day. I skunked a couple of 10 or 11 year olds. I kinda felt like Kramer in the "Seinfeld" episode where he's taking karate lessons and beating up on kids. But then again, I also lost to this pipsqueak of an Asian girl that was rated one point higher than me and took my butt out 3 games to 0. Truth is, I let up. Okay, no I didn't, I was trying to take her out. Which does sound odd, I'm fighting for all I'm worth to beat this young girl that was probably in the 4th or 5th grade (tops).

I'm hoping I gained some rating points. I beat a guy almost 200 points higher than me, but the kid that beat me for the first place trophy was almost 200 points lower than me, so I probably broke even. Will try again next May at the annual tournament at IU South Bend.

Now I Know How Mom Felt

When we lived in Arizona, we went to the Grand Canyon. Mom has always said that going there was way too nerve wracking. You had these huge drops and virtually non-existant railings to keep little ones like me from going over the edge. Watching this video from CNN I think I now know why she felt this way.

$1.99 a Gallon

In North Liberty, the price of gas finally went under $2.00, by just a penny. Never thought I'd see that again. So, whose fault is this? Bush is still President, is he to blame? The oil companies again posted record profits, but prices went down. Are they to blame? I don't think I'll ever understand how gas prices are set. Just a month ago we were in this huge crisis and all the talk was energy independence. Now, everything's honky-dory. I just don't get it (not that I mind paying over $2.00 less than I was not too long ago).

An Acting Legend (?) Retires

Joaquin Phoenix announced he is giving up acting. His last 6 movies have been Reservation Road, We Own the Night, Walk the Line, Ladder 49, The Village, and one of the voices in Brother Bear.

Wow, first we lose Paul Newman, now Mr. Phoenix. I was really hoping for that Ladder 49 sequel.

Post-Election: Over and Out

It's finally over. The world woke up on Wednesday morning and . . . life went on. Funny how that happens. Some random thoughts:

• The result was much as I expected. Fairly large electoral win for Obama, although some of the states were extremely close. The popular vote total was pretty close for a while, then Obama pulled ahead. Won by almost 8 million popular votes, or 53% of the vote. Is that a mandate? I'm never quite sure what that means. Doesn't the winner usually have the mandate? They always talk about how the winner needs to be bi-partisan and reach acrosst the aisle and all that. But, in reality, they don't have to do jack squat for the loser. Hey, to the winner goes the spoils.


• McCain gave a very good concession speech. Coupled with his hilarious SNL performance the previous weekend, this was a John McCain that I think people would have preferred to see much more of. But he did choose to take the high road out and I applaud him for that.


• Note to the McCain staffers: Sarah Palin did not lose this election for you. Remember, it was her coming on board that made the election as close as it was. Picking someone like Lieberman, Romney et al would have completely bombed. You forget that Republicans were not enthused at all about McCain UNTIL he picked Palin. In addition, a Republican simply was not going to win this year.
  
• Obama's victory speech was very much subdued. He talked right away of how they may not get everything done in a year or a first term. It was like "Oh crap, I just won this thing and now we have complete control so anything bad that happens we are solely to blame now and since I promised everything to everybody I'd better dial down those expectations right now so people don't expect too much and therefore I am officially changing my slogan from Yes We Can to Yes We'll Try."
  
• Indiana was unique. Obama barely won the state, but Mitch Daniels easily won re-election, when reports had that race very close. Maybe people finally got over daylight savings time. Or maybe Jill Long-Thompson ran a horrible campaign (as my co-workers indicated).


• How did you like that great promotional video taking place in Grant Park on Tuesday night? Over 150,000 in downtown Chicago with no incidents. Think some people took note? You know, like those from the International Olympic Committee? I bet Chicago just jumped to the top of the list for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The favorites had been Tokyo or Brazil, but I have a feeling we'll have the Olympics. Up here in South Bend, we have an artificial whitewater course, where they might very well hold some events. Now that would be pretty cool.


• If there is justice, Norm Coleman will prevail in Minnesota. I can not stand Al Franken. Once upon a time on SNL he was quite funny ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough . . .") but those days are long past.


• The city of Sacramento has a new mayor. Who is it? My all-time favorite NBA player. Yes, KEVIN JOHNSON, aka KJ, is the new mayor of California's capitol. If our last baby had been a boy instead of a girl, he was going to be named Kyle Joseph, and we would have called him KJ after, yep, you got it (Dorene liked the name KJ, but not for that reason).


• Joel Hunter, pastor of the megachurch in Florida, prayed with Obama just before his victory speech. On Sunday, he'll deliver a sermon and will mention the election. He gave a preview of his sermon: "If you pray, 'God, put who you want in the White House,' and you believe that God answers our prayers, then it is logical to assume that Barack Obama is God's answer to our prayers." Hunter is an interesting figure who is increasingly at odds with other evangelical leaders (especially after his ill-fated succession of the Christian Coalition).

I think I'm going to take a political fast for a while. All the pundits can keep talking, but I don't think I'll be listening much for a while. My hope is that Barack Obama becomes the greatest president in the history of the U.S. I know there are those that will be hoping to display a "Don't Blame Me, I voted for McCain" bumper sticker at some point. But why hope for failure? I want the best for my family and our country, so even though I didn't vote for him (and my vote was more against one-party rule than anything), here's hoping that this is the beginning of something great.

Hey, things are looking good for the Arizona Cardinals this season . . . .

Casting My Vote . . Still a Republican

It just would have been too easy. Everyone is railing against the Republican Party and jumping ship. Bashing Bush has become a national pastime. I've been a registered Republican for 24 years and seen some high points and low points. Tonight will be a very low point (and by 7:30 p.m. when polls have closed in Indiana, Ohio and Virginia, we'll have a good idea of what happens). The media will probably be "shocked and surprised" by what takes place. It'll be a Republican bloodbath, no doubt about it, but I've been expecting that all along.

But voting for Obama? I just couldn't do it. Yes, I understand his campaign for change and even I felt energized when I attended his rally back in the spring. I absolutely see why his campaign has resonated so much. But he still remains very much a mystery to me, more of a concept than a candidate.

I felt the Republicans needed to use this election to retool, and McCain is helping do just that. Like sports teams you stick with when they are down and out, I couldn't just abandon the party that I've identified with for so long. I've worked locally on a couple elections and will probably do so again in the future. The party will be back again, although it could be a while. But they have a lot of work to do repairing the Bush damage. So, for those Republicans that jumped ship for this election, "Y'all come back and see us sometime."

Election Eve Notes

So, we're almost done with all this. I read an article recently about "post-election blues" for those that read every last bit of election info there is. I'm basically in that category, although I think my life will continue just fine after the election.

Some thoughts before casting my vote tomorrow:

• Before the campaign started, I felt the Republicans needed to sit this one out and retool. In a lot of ways, I think that is what they've done. Yes, there may have been things McCain could have done differently, but he is being rejected for the same reason Hillary was rejected in the primary. He represents old-time Washington and the phenomena that is Obama just couldn't be stopped. Obama's campaign machine has been pretty remarkable. He's been steady the whole time and McCain has had to just launch attacks on the hour. At times I thought his strategy was poor, but being the huge underdog, not sure what else he could do.


• Many are wanting to blame Palin, but I think that is being overstated. Read the recaps of her appearances around the nation. She has rock star status. Maybe the pundits don't like her, but she has energized the party like no one else could have. I do believe she was mishandled at the outset. It will be interesting to see if this is it for her or if she comes back.


• Speaking of Hillary, I imagine no one is kicking themselves more than her. What if she had run in 2004? But no, she only had 2 years experience in the Senate at the time. Surely people wouldn't vote for someone with that little of experience. I still don't think the Clintons can quite believe they lost to this guy.


• A landslide is being predicted, although I'm not sure how that is defined anymore. The days of a Nixon or Reagan thrashing where the opponent only wins one state are long gone. There's always talk of cultural, economic, racial, etc. divisions in the nation. I think one of the biggest divides is simply party affiliation. There's just no way some people will ever cross over and vote the other side.


• Many of my co-workers are Black, and this election means much more to them than you can imagine. I think they are as equally scared of losing as they are of winning. Lose, and all the hopes they had over the past year go the drain. Win, and as Al Sharpton said last night on CNN, "We're in the pilot's seat and have to prove ourselves worthy of being given the seat in the first place." I don't even try to pretend to understand their stake in this election. I've told my colleagues repeatedly that they have nothing to worry about, but to no avail. They still fear some 2000 Florida scenario that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.