I have recently ventured into what my immediate family has considered the dark side of sports. Either myself or siblings have participated at one point or another in just about all of the sports (basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics, kickball, swimming, volleyball, tennis, track and field, cross country) that are available in a mid-sized town in central Indiana and while football didn't make the list, we watched plenty of it.
You have covered them all! you say. Well, my friend, if this is your statement, like us, you may have just offended a large and growing fan base of ... soccer.
That is right. Under consistent invitation and a potentially painful curiosity for the game of continuous running around and kicking a ball into a net (which in a well matched game may happen a total of a couple of times), I now have license to add soccer to my list of organized sports that I have played. After my first game ever, my team has informed me that I am not too bad. Go figure.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Black Out!
I was sitting at my desk working away when the lights all started to flicker and then the power went out...to 7 million people according to one news source. I was experiencing my first blackout.
In Indiana, black and brown outs are things we would hear about in the news that happened to those far out people who live in California where life is expensive and earthquakes are a commonality. The power was out for about 10 hours this day in the middle of summer.
Some side effects...
No power means no traffic signals. Although the traffic was heavier than normal (who can effectively accomplish great things at work in this world without electricity to power their computers?! definitely time to go home), the interstate was surprisingly smooth flowing. After getting off the interstate your normal travel time is greatly multiplied. I estimate it took me about 5 times as long to get home as normal in the non-interstate section, and I only had to go through 3 stoplights! When the power goes out, once you reach your intended destination, you stay there.
I happened to decide a little music might be nice for the ride home this day and although it makes sense there was still an unexpected aspect to turning on the radio and finding that there were very few stations. I found one that was still playing music. They were running off of a generator. I couldn't help but smile and turn the volume up a bit as I was driving down the busier than normal road in the city without power when the first song I heard them play I think was called Take a Back Road by Rodney Atkins.
The next day I stopped by the grocery store and found that the meat and dairy had been cleared out. Too bad for you if you want to buy some milk or turkey.
It was cool though to hear people talking about what they did that evening. It sounds like people really can enjoy themselves doing those old time activities like a barbecue with the neighbors (to eat that thawing meat) or watching the kids ride their bikes or throw a ball outside (because *gasp* no tv!). A great reminder that not everything in life always needs to be bigger or fast paced. Try being unplugged for a while, you might like it.
In Indiana, black and brown outs are things we would hear about in the news that happened to those far out people who live in California where life is expensive and earthquakes are a commonality. The power was out for about 10 hours this day in the middle of summer.
Some side effects...
No power means no traffic signals. Although the traffic was heavier than normal (who can effectively accomplish great things at work in this world without electricity to power their computers?! definitely time to go home), the interstate was surprisingly smooth flowing. After getting off the interstate your normal travel time is greatly multiplied. I estimate it took me about 5 times as long to get home as normal in the non-interstate section, and I only had to go through 3 stoplights! When the power goes out, once you reach your intended destination, you stay there.
I happened to decide a little music might be nice for the ride home this day and although it makes sense there was still an unexpected aspect to turning on the radio and finding that there were very few stations. I found one that was still playing music. They were running off of a generator. I couldn't help but smile and turn the volume up a bit as I was driving down the busier than normal road in the city without power when the first song I heard them play I think was called Take a Back Road by Rodney Atkins.
The next day I stopped by the grocery store and found that the meat and dairy had been cleared out. Too bad for you if you want to buy some milk or turkey.
It was cool though to hear people talking about what they did that evening. It sounds like people really can enjoy themselves doing those old time activities like a barbecue with the neighbors (to eat that thawing meat) or watching the kids ride their bikes or throw a ball outside (because *gasp* no tv!). A great reminder that not everything in life always needs to be bigger or fast paced. Try being unplugged for a while, you might like it.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Shoe Shopping
I have been thinking about getting some new shoes for a while now. A couple of weeks ago the situation reached a point of no longer being an option as parts of a shoe that are not supposed to be exposed became so. The critical stage was reached in large part do to my true dislike of shopping for shoes *gasp* and really shopping in general (I know, crazy!).
Why so negative toward such a favorite pastime of so many? you ask. Let's put it this way. In part, as far as shoes go, I haven't owned a pair that have pink on them since...I don't remember when. I have been buying men's athletic shoes for years. In general, stores just don't like to carry my size in the female versions. My feet are not freakishly large. I have never had anyone awe at their magnitude. Tripping over them is not a regular occurrence. Apparently they are just far enough out of the normal range to not be bothered with.
The store I found a couple of weeks ago though provided a respite from the drudgery. It may have taken an entire warehouse of shoes on stock to do it. But they were able to provide friendly personalized service and produce a pair of shoes, that fit.
While these shoes will likely help jump start more regular exercise attempts (hopefully!), they may also serve to bring joy to another... Ginger loves to play fetch and go for runs and her owner is happy to let me borrow her.
If you would like to see some of the other things Ginger and those like her may enjoy...in contrast to a cat's thoughts, check out the following diary entry... http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/humor/otherhumor/dog_cat_diary.htm
Why so negative toward such a favorite pastime of so many? you ask. Let's put it this way. In part, as far as shoes go, I haven't owned a pair that have pink on them since...I don't remember when. I have been buying men's athletic shoes for years. In general, stores just don't like to carry my size in the female versions. My feet are not freakishly large. I have never had anyone awe at their magnitude. Tripping over them is not a regular occurrence. Apparently they are just far enough out of the normal range to not be bothered with.
The store I found a couple of weeks ago though provided a respite from the drudgery. It may have taken an entire warehouse of shoes on stock to do it. But they were able to provide friendly personalized service and produce a pair of shoes, that fit.
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| and they have pink on them... |
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| Ginger, ready to play! |
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