Random Thoughts-35
March 31, 2008
A few days ago I ran into an old friend and he said something interesting during our conversation about the weather. He said he wants to be optimistic but he knows it doesn't work!
I know he said it tongue-in-cheek but it is truly the Saskatchewan way, isn't it? If there ever was a “World Wide Whine-Off” we'd probably place about eight in the top ten. Things are never ever good enough for us.
Insert your best whiny voice here: “It's too wet”; “It's too dry”; It's too cold”; “It's too hot”; “There's too much government intervention”; “The government isn't doing enough”; “How come everyone else gets to go on Daylight Savings Time!?”
Saskatchewan has had world champion curlers, hockey players, trap shooters, speed skaters and the list goes on. To me, what we are really world class at... is whining.
Anybody catch the Ford World Women's Curling Championships? Here's our own World Champion (three times, no less), Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Hall of Famer, motivational speaker, Joan McCusker pointing out every flaw in the Canadian Team's efforts.
I thought it was just me, but a number of the people I talked to remarked at how negative the TV coverage of the, now World Champion Jennifer Jones rink, was.
I know Canadians are supposed to be all humble and modest and not like the braggart and brash Americans but, c'mon, can't we be a little more supportive? Huh? We love ya Joan and we're proud of you, but is it too much to ask for you to lay on a bit of praise now and then?
Then there's Leader Post columnist Bruce Johnstone's editorial: "Saskatchewan's silver lining has black clouds" (Page D1-Saturday March 29/08). After stating that economists, politicians, and regular Joes are enthusiastic and optimistic regarding Saskatchewan's recent economic boom and population growth, Johnstone asks, in typical Saskatchewan pessimism, (dressed in realists' clothing), “What could go wrong?” Then states, “ Well, quite a bit, actually.”
Johntone goes on to state how the poor U.S. Economy, the labour shortages and housing availability and affordabiliy are immediate risks to growth!
Talk about raining on the parade before the first block is completed! He may very well have some valid points but can't we just bask in the sunshine for more than a moment or two? Again, is that too much to ask?
Okay, you're right. I sound like a world class whiner myself. How do I justify whining about whiners? I'd like to think that I'm challenging their negative ways. You may label it any way you want, but I will insist that I am an optimist and I firmly believe it works.
"The optomist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose."-Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931).
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Random Thoughts-34
March 16th, 2008
In a recent speech to SARM delegates Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall admitted to letting his 14 year old daughter drive on country roads. No biggie? Not according to NDP MLA Frank Quennell who demanded an apology from the premier for breaking the law and bragging about it.
How many of you had your first driving experience in a truck, or car, while driving down an old dirt road or in a field? Thought so. Thank you. You can put your hands down now.
Now, how many of you didn't have a legal driver's license or were under the age of 16 during that first driving experience? Again, thanks. That's what I thought. Me too.
I could go on about how the experience of handling a vehicle at such a young age, sometimes in not the most ideal conditions, is far more beneficial to one's life-long driving prowess than hours and hours of simulated driver training or black top exercises could ever provide. Common sense suggests that it is.
Or one could make the argument that fourteen year olds can legally drive in other jurisdictions or even be legally married in some countries. Is that right or wrong? You can be the judge of that.
The point some politicians are making is that a law is a law and if you are breaking the law you are wrong whether you are Joe Farmer training your kids or the Premier of Saskatchewan.
The issue, to me anyway, is not the point of law. It's plain old “mountains out of mole hills” posturing. While the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly is in session for only 611/2 days a year, I'm wondering if they should be tying up valuable governing time by debating, in my humble opinion, what amounts to be a non-issue.
One's political leanings are very personal. Whether you cry out your allegiance from the top of a soap box or secretly mark your X on the ballot is your choice. Personally, I've been a secret ballot kinda guy. However, I will say that my leanings are a little more left of centre. Politically speaking, anyway. In other words, my Dad was the big conservative lover in the family.
Having said that, some issues cross party lines. It's not so much which political party is throwing the mud but the texture of the mud being slung. And in this particular instance the shot was taken because the shot was available, not because of the merits of the case. Anyway, that's my view on it.
I don't think I'm the only one who gets frustrated with the constant bickering, the politicizing and the whizzing contests that are the norm as the political parties are in continuous campaign mode. Just stop it! Get on with business!
Shouldn't they be more worried about hospital patient wait times, school closures, labour shortages and crumbling highways? Speaking of such, why hasn't a government in the last 30 odd years finished #48 highway from Kipling to the junction of #9 highway at Kennedy?
If she ever gets the opportunity to travel that road, Brad Wall's daughter is going to need every ounce of her driving experience, once she gets her license, to maneuver a vehicle down this goat path they call Highway 48 between Kipling and Kennedy.
“The problem with politcal jokes is they get elected.”-Henry Cate VII
“
March 16th, 2008
In a recent speech to SARM delegates Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall admitted to letting his 14 year old daughter drive on country roads. No biggie? Not according to NDP MLA Frank Quennell who demanded an apology from the premier for breaking the law and bragging about it.
How many of you had your first driving experience in a truck, or car, while driving down an old dirt road or in a field? Thought so. Thank you. You can put your hands down now.
Now, how many of you didn't have a legal driver's license or were under the age of 16 during that first driving experience? Again, thanks. That's what I thought. Me too.
I could go on about how the experience of handling a vehicle at such a young age, sometimes in not the most ideal conditions, is far more beneficial to one's life-long driving prowess than hours and hours of simulated driver training or black top exercises could ever provide. Common sense suggests that it is.
Or one could make the argument that fourteen year olds can legally drive in other jurisdictions or even be legally married in some countries. Is that right or wrong? You can be the judge of that.
The point some politicians are making is that a law is a law and if you are breaking the law you are wrong whether you are Joe Farmer training your kids or the Premier of Saskatchewan.
The issue, to me anyway, is not the point of law. It's plain old “mountains out of mole hills” posturing. While the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly is in session for only 611/2 days a year, I'm wondering if they should be tying up valuable governing time by debating, in my humble opinion, what amounts to be a non-issue.
One's political leanings are very personal. Whether you cry out your allegiance from the top of a soap box or secretly mark your X on the ballot is your choice. Personally, I've been a secret ballot kinda guy. However, I will say that my leanings are a little more left of centre. Politically speaking, anyway. In other words, my Dad was the big conservative lover in the family.
Having said that, some issues cross party lines. It's not so much which political party is throwing the mud but the texture of the mud being slung. And in this particular instance the shot was taken because the shot was available, not because of the merits of the case. Anyway, that's my view on it.
I don't think I'm the only one who gets frustrated with the constant bickering, the politicizing and the whizzing contests that are the norm as the political parties are in continuous campaign mode. Just stop it! Get on with business!
Shouldn't they be more worried about hospital patient wait times, school closures, labour shortages and crumbling highways? Speaking of such, why hasn't a government in the last 30 odd years finished #48 highway from Kipling to the junction of #9 highway at Kennedy?
If she ever gets the opportunity to travel that road, Brad Wall's daughter is going to need every ounce of her driving experience, once she gets her license, to maneuver a vehicle down this goat path they call Highway 48 between Kipling and Kennedy.
“The problem with politcal jokes is they get elected.”-Henry Cate VII
“
Random Thoughts-33
February 24th, 2008
I guess you could say it was fortuitous, maybe Karma or, as Rev. Elizabeth would say, a Godincident. Perhaps it was just plain old circumstances begetting circumstances. Maybe it was a little bit of all of the above. The bottom line is, in 1971, I signed up to take the Grade 10 Typing class.
As much as I would like to think there was some karmic force at work, I don't recall being motivated by the possibility that typing would come in so handy later on in my life.
Truth is, it was the path of least resistance. You see, back then, students were only required to pass twenty-one classes (credits) to receive their High School Diploma. Typing seemed like a pretty cheap credit to me! At the very least, it seemed much easier than Chemistry or Physics and the Typing class had about a 10-1 ratio of girls to boys! It was a perfect combination for an underachieving, testosterone filled 15-year old male!
That year, Mr. Miller was our teacher and I can still hear his metronome going “click-clack-click-clack” and his constant instruction to, “Keep in time and elevate those wrists!”
For someone with an attention deficiency, (I'm just guessing, nobody diagnosed ADD back then, you were just a “troublemaker”), I managed to survive the school-term and got a pretty decent mark, if I remember correctly.
What the heck, I thought, I might as well take it again in Grade 11, too; cheap credit and all. Turns out we got a new teacher for the class that year. She had a deficiency as well. She was deficient about two yards of material from her skirts! Wow, those mini skirts were, well...mini! I was locked in!
By the time I finished high school I was typing about 65 words a minute. I can't remember if that was good or bad but it was good enough for a passing mark. With all of the distractions it's hard to believe I could hit any of the correct keys at all!
“Good enough”, “close enough”, “gettin' by”; those were my mottos, back in the day. As far as my academics were concerned, anyway. I don't recall too many report cards that didn't say, “Perry would do much better if he would just try harder.” "Try harder!? Whadyamean?! I'm gettin' by!”
Do you really think that boys are receptive to the learning experience between the ages of 13- to-18? Most, you say? Some, perhaps? Maybe someone should check it out. Maybe they have. I know this boy wasn't too excited about school when I was thirteen and by the time I was 18 I knew everything anyway! Or so I thought!
Whatever the motivation, or lack thereof, the old typing skills have come in quite handy in the thirtysome years that I have been out of high school. I guess if one truly is a little attention deficient and is fortunate enough to inhabit the planet for a long period of time, many of the skills picked up along the way may just become quite useful indeed.
“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”- Lou Holtz.
February 24th, 2008
I guess you could say it was fortuitous, maybe Karma or, as Rev. Elizabeth would say, a Godincident. Perhaps it was just plain old circumstances begetting circumstances. Maybe it was a little bit of all of the above. The bottom line is, in 1971, I signed up to take the Grade 10 Typing class.
As much as I would like to think there was some karmic force at work, I don't recall being motivated by the possibility that typing would come in so handy later on in my life.
Truth is, it was the path of least resistance. You see, back then, students were only required to pass twenty-one classes (credits) to receive their High School Diploma. Typing seemed like a pretty cheap credit to me! At the very least, it seemed much easier than Chemistry or Physics and the Typing class had about a 10-1 ratio of girls to boys! It was a perfect combination for an underachieving, testosterone filled 15-year old male!
That year, Mr. Miller was our teacher and I can still hear his metronome going “click-clack-click-clack” and his constant instruction to, “Keep in time and elevate those wrists!”
For someone with an attention deficiency, (I'm just guessing, nobody diagnosed ADD back then, you were just a “troublemaker”), I managed to survive the school-term and got a pretty decent mark, if I remember correctly.
What the heck, I thought, I might as well take it again in Grade 11, too; cheap credit and all. Turns out we got a new teacher for the class that year. She had a deficiency as well. She was deficient about two yards of material from her skirts! Wow, those mini skirts were, well...mini! I was locked in!
By the time I finished high school I was typing about 65 words a minute. I can't remember if that was good or bad but it was good enough for a passing mark. With all of the distractions it's hard to believe I could hit any of the correct keys at all!
“Good enough”, “close enough”, “gettin' by”; those were my mottos, back in the day. As far as my academics were concerned, anyway. I don't recall too many report cards that didn't say, “Perry would do much better if he would just try harder.” "Try harder!? Whadyamean?! I'm gettin' by!”
Do you really think that boys are receptive to the learning experience between the ages of 13- to-18? Most, you say? Some, perhaps? Maybe someone should check it out. Maybe they have. I know this boy wasn't too excited about school when I was thirteen and by the time I was 18 I knew everything anyway! Or so I thought!
Whatever the motivation, or lack thereof, the old typing skills have come in quite handy in the thirtysome years that I have been out of high school. I guess if one truly is a little attention deficient and is fortunate enough to inhabit the planet for a long period of time, many of the skills picked up along the way may just become quite useful indeed.
“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”- Lou Holtz.
Random Thoughts-32
February 17th, 2008
As human beings, every one of us has one thing in common: we're all a statistic. Whether someone has just taken their last breath or their first, they're a statistic. You can't escape. You are data. You are a number to someone somewhere.
We are inundated with statistics every day. Whether it's the weather stats, or the Canadian dollar level, or your favourite hockey team's stats, we are all affected by statistics.
One can't help but observe statistics. A while back I was the statistician for the Old Vienna Hockey League in Regina for a few seasons. Statistics fascinate, frustrate and sometimes infuriate me.
There have been some interesting numbers jump out at me from some recent articles that I have been reading. I will list off some of them for your perusal. Some of the information may make you just grin and shake your head. Others might have you reaching for the high blood pressure medication. Here goes:
According to a recent study, Canada's highest paid private sector CEO's earned $38,010.00 (the average Canadian salary), by 9:46am on January 2nd!!
A Saskatchewan minimum wage earner will earn $17,160.00 for 52 weeks of work at 40 hours per week.
The cost to air a 30-second 2008 Super Bowl Commercial....US$2.7 million.
Two-thirds of the population of the state of Mississippi is overweight. Yes, TWO-THIRDS!!
In Canada, the prevalence of being overweight among children aged 6 to 11 has doubled from 13% in 1977/78 to 26% in 2004.
The average National Football League game contains about 120 actual plays, which take an average of 6 seconds each. That's 720 seconds of play, or 12 minutes. An average game takes about three hours to play. This means that a regular-season game contains 12 minutes of action and 168 minutes of inaction! Are you with me so far? As an offensive player, Peyton Manning, whose salary this past year was $11,000,000.00, played, at most, 8 minutes out of the 12-minute total of each of the Indianapolis Colts' 18 regular season games, or about 24 minutes in all-which means he made some $4,583,000.00 per hour! Hmmmm.
Trevor Hoffman, the San Diego Padres' relief pitcher received $367,775.83 per inning pitched.
Alex Rodriquez, the New York Yankees third baseman, received $420,528.24 per home run.
For the first time in 15 years the teen birth rate in the United States increased! Canadian stats are a few years old and do not show the same alarming trend, yet. The United Nations' last comprehensive tally of G8 countries, from 2004, showed the U.K. has the third-highest teen birth rate, with 26.8 births per 1000, slightly lower than Russia (28.2) and well above Japan (5.6), France (7.8), Italy (6.7) and Germany(11). The U.S. is at 41.8 per 1000!
Just a note: this isn't really an official statistic but a Winnipeg High School offers a daycare program specifically to accommodate students and staff, although the main users of the program were students. Despite the school's acknowledgment of teen pregnancy, there was not one condom dispenser in the entire school or any sex education courses. Again, hmmmm.
Numbers are numbers and they can be used in numerous ways, but one thing is for sure, numbers don't lie.
"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you." - Rita Mae Brown.
February 17th, 2008
As human beings, every one of us has one thing in common: we're all a statistic. Whether someone has just taken their last breath or their first, they're a statistic. You can't escape. You are data. You are a number to someone somewhere.
We are inundated with statistics every day. Whether it's the weather stats, or the Canadian dollar level, or your favourite hockey team's stats, we are all affected by statistics.
One can't help but observe statistics. A while back I was the statistician for the Old Vienna Hockey League in Regina for a few seasons. Statistics fascinate, frustrate and sometimes infuriate me.
There have been some interesting numbers jump out at me from some recent articles that I have been reading. I will list off some of them for your perusal. Some of the information may make you just grin and shake your head. Others might have you reaching for the high blood pressure medication. Here goes:
According to a recent study, Canada's highest paid private sector CEO's earned $38,010.00 (the average Canadian salary), by 9:46am on January 2nd!!
A Saskatchewan minimum wage earner will earn $17,160.00 for 52 weeks of work at 40 hours per week.
The cost to air a 30-second 2008 Super Bowl Commercial....US$2.7 million.
Two-thirds of the population of the state of Mississippi is overweight. Yes, TWO-THIRDS!!
In Canada, the prevalence of being overweight among children aged 6 to 11 has doubled from 13% in 1977/78 to 26% in 2004.
The average National Football League game contains about 120 actual plays, which take an average of 6 seconds each. That's 720 seconds of play, or 12 minutes. An average game takes about three hours to play. This means that a regular-season game contains 12 minutes of action and 168 minutes of inaction! Are you with me so far? As an offensive player, Peyton Manning, whose salary this past year was $11,000,000.00, played, at most, 8 minutes out of the 12-minute total of each of the Indianapolis Colts' 18 regular season games, or about 24 minutes in all-which means he made some $4,583,000.00 per hour! Hmmmm.
Trevor Hoffman, the San Diego Padres' relief pitcher received $367,775.83 per inning pitched.
Alex Rodriquez, the New York Yankees third baseman, received $420,528.24 per home run.
For the first time in 15 years the teen birth rate in the United States increased! Canadian stats are a few years old and do not show the same alarming trend, yet. The United Nations' last comprehensive tally of G8 countries, from 2004, showed the U.K. has the third-highest teen birth rate, with 26.8 births per 1000, slightly lower than Russia (28.2) and well above Japan (5.6), France (7.8), Italy (6.7) and Germany(11). The U.S. is at 41.8 per 1000!
Just a note: this isn't really an official statistic but a Winnipeg High School offers a daycare program specifically to accommodate students and staff, although the main users of the program were students. Despite the school's acknowledgment of teen pregnancy, there was not one condom dispenser in the entire school or any sex education courses. Again, hmmmm.
Numbers are numbers and they can be used in numerous ways, but one thing is for sure, numbers don't lie.
"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you." - Rita Mae Brown.
Random Thoughts-31
February 1st, 2008
Life's weird, eh? Just after I write a column about luck, I am struck down with a terrible viral infection. Luck probably had very little to do with me getting sick, being that it's cold and flu season and all. It was just a matter of probability. The probability of catching something was also increased by the fact that I ignored Nurse Betty's recommendation for a flu shot. Again! Too smart, too late!
I guess the luck part comes from the timing of the sickness. Is there ever a good time to be sick? Not likely. I am sure it wouldn't matter when we got sick, it would seem like it's at the most inconvenient time. I don't know if I would call it lucky, but my week-long bedridden illness just happened to co-incide with the coldest week of the winter. Not a bad time to be in a warm bed for a week. It's a stretch, but sometimes you gotta look for the silver lining!
Either the flu and cold strains are getting worse or my immune system, or lack thereof, is just not what it used to be! I don't know about you, but I just can't seem to get a good old fashioned cold anymore. You know, you get the sniffles, a bit of an itchy throat and a few "aahh choos" later you're back to normal.
Well, not any more! Not me, anyway. It starts out that way, then I turn into some kinda mutant mucus manufacturing machine! Yes, I know! I'm a sicko! In more ways than one! Anyway, then the fever hits and you're thinking, 38.8C isn't so bad, because you're still not converting it to something we older adults can relate to. A hundred and what?! No wonder I'm hallucinating!
Between the fever and the medication, all kinds of weird thoughts go through one's mind. Like, why can't we just put a tap on our sinuses and drain it out, like a maple tree, or something! Or how about a fine wire with the tiniest bristles on the end so we can just scratch that spot, without detonating the gag reflex, on our throat instead of dry-coughing to the point of passing out!? But, nooo, that would be too easy!
Then, while you're in the drugstore, waiting for your prescriptions, you have to listen to everyone's personal theory on cold and flu prevention. Yes, I know, take lots of Vitamin C, echinacea or Zinc, eat lots of Grandma's homemade chicken soup, move to the Antarctic or somewhere that the flu virus or any other living thing can't exist. Well, thanks for the advice but if I would have done that, I wouldn't be standing in line, now, would I?!
Apparently, you can also list irritability as one of the symptoms of cold and flu season. Well, excuse me if It's hard to keep a sunny disposition when you're oxygen-deprived from your stuffed sinuses and your brain cells are nearing the boiling point! I guess the one saving grace to getting the flu, is that you never really know how healthy you are, 'til you get really sick.
"It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like."-Jackie Mason (1934-)
February 1st, 2008
Life's weird, eh? Just after I write a column about luck, I am struck down with a terrible viral infection. Luck probably had very little to do with me getting sick, being that it's cold and flu season and all. It was just a matter of probability. The probability of catching something was also increased by the fact that I ignored Nurse Betty's recommendation for a flu shot. Again! Too smart, too late!
I guess the luck part comes from the timing of the sickness. Is there ever a good time to be sick? Not likely. I am sure it wouldn't matter when we got sick, it would seem like it's at the most inconvenient time. I don't know if I would call it lucky, but my week-long bedridden illness just happened to co-incide with the coldest week of the winter. Not a bad time to be in a warm bed for a week. It's a stretch, but sometimes you gotta look for the silver lining!
Either the flu and cold strains are getting worse or my immune system, or lack thereof, is just not what it used to be! I don't know about you, but I just can't seem to get a good old fashioned cold anymore. You know, you get the sniffles, a bit of an itchy throat and a few "aahh choos" later you're back to normal.
Well, not any more! Not me, anyway. It starts out that way, then I turn into some kinda mutant mucus manufacturing machine! Yes, I know! I'm a sicko! In more ways than one! Anyway, then the fever hits and you're thinking, 38.8C isn't so bad, because you're still not converting it to something we older adults can relate to. A hundred and what?! No wonder I'm hallucinating!
Between the fever and the medication, all kinds of weird thoughts go through one's mind. Like, why can't we just put a tap on our sinuses and drain it out, like a maple tree, or something! Or how about a fine wire with the tiniest bristles on the end so we can just scratch that spot, without detonating the gag reflex, on our throat instead of dry-coughing to the point of passing out!? But, nooo, that would be too easy!
Then, while you're in the drugstore, waiting for your prescriptions, you have to listen to everyone's personal theory on cold and flu prevention. Yes, I know, take lots of Vitamin C, echinacea or Zinc, eat lots of Grandma's homemade chicken soup, move to the Antarctic or somewhere that the flu virus or any other living thing can't exist. Well, thanks for the advice but if I would have done that, I wouldn't be standing in line, now, would I?!
Apparently, you can also list irritability as one of the symptoms of cold and flu season. Well, excuse me if It's hard to keep a sunny disposition when you're oxygen-deprived from your stuffed sinuses and your brain cells are nearing the boiling point! I guess the one saving grace to getting the flu, is that you never really know how healthy you are, 'til you get really sick.
"It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like."-Jackie Mason (1934-)
Random Thoughts-30
January 20th, 2008
Some of you may remember "Badluck Shleprock". He was the hapless and unlucky character from The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm cartoon show from the '70s. The character was so unlucky that the name "Shleprock" became an icon and stereotype for any unlucky individuals.
I have never really thought of myself as a "Shleprock". At least, not until a lot of my co-workers saw me spending so much time in front of the First Aid Station that they started wondering if I was the guy that restocked it, or if I was the one using up most of the supplies. I can only tell you that I wasn't the guy that restocked the cabinet.
To tell the truth, I didn't think much about whether I was lucky or unlucky. I hadn't been in any major car accidents (touch wood), or hadn't spent as much as an overnight stay in a hospital as a result of an accident (touch wood again!). Conversely, I have never won anything big, lotteries and such, or even smaller prizes like 50/50 draws at hockey games.
I wouldn't say that I am overly superstitious, either. Like most, I am a little more aware of my surroundings on a "Friday the 13th" day and I try to avoid walking under ladders and I toss salt over my shoulder after it has been spilled. Other than those kind of things, and maybe a few more, I wouldn't say that I was fanatical about it. Just enough of a believer to, I don't know, not push my luck, as it were!
After the "First Aid Station" ribbing, from my co-workers, I started to wonder about how lucky, or unlucky, I really was. So, I did an inventory of the old memory banks to see if I could see a pattern developing. Maybe there was an incident, recently, that turned my luck.
Could it have been that stupid "Chain E-Mail" letter that I broke a couple of years ago? Who knows? Could it just be that I am a bit slower, as I age, and I am now unable to move my thumb away from a swinging hammer, as I once could? Is my brain so overloaded with thought that I lose concentration, on the task at hand, and cause mistakes? Nah, let's go with the damn chain mail!
What is luck anyway? If you look it up in the Webster's New World Dictionary, it's right there between Lucifer and lucrative! Seriously! Look it up! You can draw your own conclusions regarding that! You can also spend a couple of hours looking up "luck" on the old on-line encyclopedia-Wikipedia. Both sources state that: "Luck is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control. Luck may be good or bad."
Another '70s fictional character also had something to say regarding luck. "Dirty Harry" Callahan asks the wounded criminal, "You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well,...do ya punk?" I guess it all comes down to your point of view. I may be a bit of a klutz and I'm not holding my breath on winning a big lottery or anything, but in the overall scheme of things, I think I would still consider myself pretty lucky.
"It is bad luck to be superstitious."-Andrew W. Mathis
January 20th, 2008
Some of you may remember "Badluck Shleprock". He was the hapless and unlucky character from The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm cartoon show from the '70s. The character was so unlucky that the name "Shleprock" became an icon and stereotype for any unlucky individuals.
I have never really thought of myself as a "Shleprock". At least, not until a lot of my co-workers saw me spending so much time in front of the First Aid Station that they started wondering if I was the guy that restocked it, or if I was the one using up most of the supplies. I can only tell you that I wasn't the guy that restocked the cabinet.
To tell the truth, I didn't think much about whether I was lucky or unlucky. I hadn't been in any major car accidents (touch wood), or hadn't spent as much as an overnight stay in a hospital as a result of an accident (touch wood again!). Conversely, I have never won anything big, lotteries and such, or even smaller prizes like 50/50 draws at hockey games.
I wouldn't say that I am overly superstitious, either. Like most, I am a little more aware of my surroundings on a "Friday the 13th" day and I try to avoid walking under ladders and I toss salt over my shoulder after it has been spilled. Other than those kind of things, and maybe a few more, I wouldn't say that I was fanatical about it. Just enough of a believer to, I don't know, not push my luck, as it were!
After the "First Aid Station" ribbing, from my co-workers, I started to wonder about how lucky, or unlucky, I really was. So, I did an inventory of the old memory banks to see if I could see a pattern developing. Maybe there was an incident, recently, that turned my luck.
Could it have been that stupid "Chain E-Mail" letter that I broke a couple of years ago? Who knows? Could it just be that I am a bit slower, as I age, and I am now unable to move my thumb away from a swinging hammer, as I once could? Is my brain so overloaded with thought that I lose concentration, on the task at hand, and cause mistakes? Nah, let's go with the damn chain mail!
What is luck anyway? If you look it up in the Webster's New World Dictionary, it's right there between Lucifer and lucrative! Seriously! Look it up! You can draw your own conclusions regarding that! You can also spend a couple of hours looking up "luck" on the old on-line encyclopedia-Wikipedia. Both sources state that: "Luck is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control. Luck may be good or bad."
Another '70s fictional character also had something to say regarding luck. "Dirty Harry" Callahan asks the wounded criminal, "You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well,...do ya punk?" I guess it all comes down to your point of view. I may be a bit of a klutz and I'm not holding my breath on winning a big lottery or anything, but in the overall scheme of things, I think I would still consider myself pretty lucky.
"It is bad luck to be superstitious."-Andrew W. Mathis
Random Thoughts-29
January 7th, 2008
Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone is completely recovered from the Happy Holiday Season and ready to get back to "Normal". Of course, you know what "Normal" is? For a lot of us, it's only about one-and-a-half notches down from full blown Christmas warp speed! So don't be too eager for a real slow-down in January.
We prepare and prepare, and cook and clean, and shop and party, then clean some more, then cook some more, then shop some more and go to a couple more parties and whine that the season went by sooooo fast! And, you know what? It does!
I bet it even goes fast for all those weird folks that have everything bought and ready by the end of Agribition! You know the ones. They're whistling Christmas carols on November 1st and have their greeting cards in the mail the day after Remembrance Day and everything. Well, good for them.
To me, it just takes some of the excitement away, from the occasion, if you're not feverishly running around the last few days before Christmas and you actually listen for how many shopping days are left! But then again, I am a natural born procastinator. I don't even have to work at it!
Our family tries to buy as many local products as possible for the season. Once upon a time, I was a local business owner, too, and I know full-well the importance of supporting our local merchants. That said, there are always items that require the requisite trip, or trips, to a larger centre to endure the Mall Madness and the Wal-Mart Wars.
Nothing says "Christmas" like looking for a spot in the Food Court or rubbing elbows with a few hundred other people trying to find that last DVD or listening to the children cry as, once again, they're told to "WAIT 'TIL CHRISTMAS!". Ah, 'Tis the Season!
I am not exactly sure why, but we were unable to go on our annual trip until the 22nd of December. Yes, the 22nd of December! I still can't remember why we put it off. Hmmm?
Anyway, it was nuts! But, this time, it was a good nuts, if you know what I mean? People weren't angry, clerks were very helpful and we even found a spot in the Food Court! Maybe there is something to be said about glad tidings and all.
Shortly before Christmas, I had a conversation with a colleague about his plans for the holidays and I asked him if he was prepared. He stated that the best thing about Christmas was January 2nd! Whoa! Talk about Bah-Humbug! I'll admit that the season doesn't have the same magic as it did when I was 10 years-old, or even when our children were 10 years-old, but still, it's not that bad, is it?
To him and his ilk I pose this question. If you were to repeat one day over and over again, as in the movie "Groundhog Day", and you had the choice between the 25th of December or January 2nd, which day would you chose? Thought so!
"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right,"-Oprah Windrey (1954-).
January 7th, 2008
Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone is completely recovered from the Happy Holiday Season and ready to get back to "Normal". Of course, you know what "Normal" is? For a lot of us, it's only about one-and-a-half notches down from full blown Christmas warp speed! So don't be too eager for a real slow-down in January.
We prepare and prepare, and cook and clean, and shop and party, then clean some more, then cook some more, then shop some more and go to a couple more parties and whine that the season went by sooooo fast! And, you know what? It does!
I bet it even goes fast for all those weird folks that have everything bought and ready by the end of Agribition! You know the ones. They're whistling Christmas carols on November 1st and have their greeting cards in the mail the day after Remembrance Day and everything. Well, good for them.
To me, it just takes some of the excitement away, from the occasion, if you're not feverishly running around the last few days before Christmas and you actually listen for how many shopping days are left! But then again, I am a natural born procastinator. I don't even have to work at it!
Our family tries to buy as many local products as possible for the season. Once upon a time, I was a local business owner, too, and I know full-well the importance of supporting our local merchants. That said, there are always items that require the requisite trip, or trips, to a larger centre to endure the Mall Madness and the Wal-Mart Wars.
Nothing says "Christmas" like looking for a spot in the Food Court or rubbing elbows with a few hundred other people trying to find that last DVD or listening to the children cry as, once again, they're told to "WAIT 'TIL CHRISTMAS!". Ah, 'Tis the Season!
I am not exactly sure why, but we were unable to go on our annual trip until the 22nd of December. Yes, the 22nd of December! I still can't remember why we put it off. Hmmm?
Anyway, it was nuts! But, this time, it was a good nuts, if you know what I mean? People weren't angry, clerks were very helpful and we even found a spot in the Food Court! Maybe there is something to be said about glad tidings and all.
Shortly before Christmas, I had a conversation with a colleague about his plans for the holidays and I asked him if he was prepared. He stated that the best thing about Christmas was January 2nd! Whoa! Talk about Bah-Humbug! I'll admit that the season doesn't have the same magic as it did when I was 10 years-old, or even when our children were 10 years-old, but still, it's not that bad, is it?
To him and his ilk I pose this question. If you were to repeat one day over and over again, as in the movie "Groundhog Day", and you had the choice between the 25th of December or January 2nd, which day would you chose? Thought so!
"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right,"-Oprah Windrey (1954-).
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