Month: August 2008

A Interesting Week (almost my last)

It has been an interesting week on the observation front.  Not so much out of the ordinary as opposed to things just catching me off guard. 

For starters, I was taking the back way into the Best Buy parking lot (you learn interesting shortcuts into local shopping areas during Christmas) and happened upon an ambulance parked under a tree towards the back.  I decided this was a great idea – disperse the ambulances to various parts of the city in order to improve response times.  They are going to probably sit around anyway waiting for an event anyway so why not increase the opportunity to save a life. The surprise moment came as soon as I passed by the ambulance and noticed the drive sitting on the back bumper smoking a cigarette.  I have to question this choice of occupations.  He spends his days probably witnessing some horrible situations of which more than one has to be heart attack or stroke based.  However, he still chooses to increase his odds of requiring the services of his organization.  Maybe smoking is a means to calm his nerves after dealing with the situations he faces at work. 

 A day or two later I was sitting in an Chinese restaurant waiting for a carry out when a lady walked in with her 4 to 5 year old son.  First off, it hit me that I have a poor ability to actually judge a child’s age.  Guessing this is due to not having children of my own and really do not have a lot of contact with children in the pre-school to kindergarten range.  Hopefully some little kid won’t hold up a filling station while I am there and then have to try and give an age estimate to the police… not to mention I don’t think the height charts on the exit doors go that low.  As I was sitting there (admiring the fact that the lady was able to speak perfect non-accented English and then apparently converse in fluent Chinese -or Mandarin – no clue with the Asian lady behind the counter), the child asked if he could have one of the new ice cream bars he saw on the menu.  The mom looked like she was going to happily comply with his wish when she read the fine print indicating it was sugar free.  I had noticed that on the sign and thought this would probably increase his chances of scoring the treat.  Contrary to my assumption, she said “no, that is sugar free, I don’t want you to have that”  Whoa, luckily the kid asked the exact same question I wanted to ask “why is sugar free bad?” (thanks kid).  Her response was “It’s just not good for you.. bad stuff”.  In the age of fat nation, I was kind of stunned since it seemed like a lesser of evils and a potential enforcement of choices in future treating situations.  I actually pondered on this all the way home and ended up asking my wife to weigh in on the situation.  She immediately sided with the mom under the argument that sugar substitutes are bad for children.  Is this true?  I recalled the sign did have a Splenda logo in the bottom right hand of the sign (I have a tendency to recall scenes in pretty good detail which you might at first think is a good thing, but if you know of a way to eliminate the mental picture of the 250+ pound lady wearing the red skin tight running shorts during the Bix 7 road race, I’m all ears) .  Is there a age when sugar alternatives are good for you.. is it bad at any age…. is this position wrong and we have another Olestra scandal on our hands?  … of course I am sure that breaded chicken in the thick orange sauces is sooooo much better for the kid.

Lastly, and the most startling, observation happened today.  I was coming out of the Culver’s parking lot in East Peoria and was first in line at the stop light waiting to turn left.  I usually hate approaching this light from the right because it isn’t sync’d real well with another light about 3/10ths of a mile away which causes the need for “critical decision time” when you have to determine if there is enough room past the light not to block the intersection if the cars get stopped at the other light- by the way, intersection blocking is PET PEEVE of mine!   I was simply watching the vehicles approach from the left and taking in the sights and sounds when I noticed the car in the lane closest to me (on the left) started slowing down which is generally a good sign that the light is preparing to turn.  For some reason my spider senses flared up and my attention diverted to a van alongside that vehicle that showed no sign of slowing down – in fact, it looked like it was accelerating relative to the vehicle that was slowing down.  Sure enough, the light turned green (actually green arrows because I was a T intersection) and the lady in the van just kept coming – still 3 to 4 car lengths away from the intersection… I hesitated for seemed like an eternity and half expected the car behind to start leaning on the horn…. no decline in speed…van still approaching, van entering intersection and then I caught a good view of the older lady driving – guess in the late 50’s (okay, I suck at older ages as well 8^)  I was getting ready to raise my hands in the standard palms up for the universal “WTF?” display when she turned her torso 90 degrees to me, raised her hands in the air in the stick ’em position, opened her eyes wide open, opened her mouth and shook her head violently like she was trying to scare a kid.  She continued through the red light like than and then calmly returned to the standard driving position and continued on down the road.   I was left dumbfounded – the car behind her stopped and proceeded through the intersection and actually caught the attention of the driver who stopped in the lane closest to me – he was shaking his head in disbelief as well.  I have no explanation for this … other than a death wish.  My thanks to whatever triggered my internal alarms – it actually had a lingering effect on me since I spent the remainder of my drive assessing all the assumptions I make on road.. hope that guy stays in his lane, does he know what a dual turn is, will he accelerate to speed before merging.  Guessing this will pass soon, but that is the closest I’ve come in awhile to getting a ride in an ambulance…. If I’m in luck some guy will have one parked close and, believe me – if so,  I will not give one ounce of concern if he is smoking. 

A Disgraced Angel

Today I was appalled.  Was it hearing about Supreme Court Lying Ex President Clinton speaking in Las Vegas on Energy Conservation (I wonder how many people it takes to FLY Clinton to Nevada – bad news is he wasn’t on the campaign trail ruining another election)…. nor was it Bolt from Jamaica going on about how people like him for his cockiness and end of race taunting…. nope, neither of those things.  I was stunned by an Angel… by name only.  As it turns out Angel Matos – a Cuban Tae Kwon Do Olympian competing for the Bronze Medal decided he was unfairly penalized so roundhoused the referee.  That’s right, hauled off and kicked the referee who disqualified him (per the rules) for taking too much injury time (he was winning 3-2, but was knocked on his *ss by his opponent).   Now there are two overall goats for the Olympics and unfortunately this one hits closer to home since I spent many years in Tae Kwon Do and consider this a slap in the face of everything that discipline is based on. 

I still remember my TKD Tenants and Pledge to this day:

Tae Kwon Do Du Jun Sin (Tenants of TKD)

  • Ye-Ui – Courtesy
  • Yom Chy – Integrity
  • In-Nae – Perseverance
  • Guk Ke – Self Control
  • Bakjul Boolgool – Indomitable Spirit

 (pardon the translation attempt, it has been awhile since I wrote Korean)

My Pledge

  • I will obey the principles of TKD
  • I will obey instructor and all senior ranks
  • I will never misuse TKD
  • I will be a champion of freedom
  • I will build a more peaceful world

 Might as well throw in my Master Commandments while I’m at it:

Kwan Jang Nim Hoon Se

  • Chung Kyul – Cleanliness
  • Tin-Seel – Truth
  • Kyum Son – Humble
  • Sa-Rang/Ja Bae – Mercy
  • Duk Do – Spiritually Awake

 I was expected to know these upon any prompting from my instructors and required to demonstrate this knowledge along with Korean philosophies for all techniques and forms before every belt test – knowledge before technique, technique before use and competency before advancement.  Yet for some reason this sad excuse for a martial artist apparently didn’t see an issue with attacking a judge … nor did his coach who was apparently unapologetic.  The World Taekwondo Federation has issued him a lifetime ban – which is a good first step, but I am thinking an additional exhibition at the Beijing closing ceremonies should include an example of Kyum Son – Maybe a Monkey or Crane style demonstration to see if Angel’s black belt is really up to standards.  But alas, I’ll obey Ja-Bae and hope none of my students ever show such disrespect to the ancient arts.

Pil Sung!

Utter Failure for USA Runners

Ugh… I just finished watching the Men’s and Women’s relays.  Pretty basic really…. run real fast, pass a baton to the next runner and repeat until the finish.  Let me pause for a few minutes to let the flood of defensive statements crash through my monitor… tick tick.. “Oh yeah, then you try it”, tick tick “They’re at the Olympics and you are sitting at home so there”, tick tick “Don’t ridicule unless you can do better” tick tick – okay, times up.  Pretty lame comebacks, but I’ll quickly address one… Give me four years to practice every day of my life and I will guarantee you that I could pass a small cylinder to another run without watching it bang onto the ground.  What makes this so ridiculous is that it was a heat race … which means even if you don’t have a chance to beat the Jamaicans, you should be able to at least get in the top four even if you run a “safe” race and go slower at the transfers.  But no, both the men and the women played hot potato on the last leg and succeeded in flushing any medal chance down the drain.  I guess the cherry on the shame cake was the women’s after race interview where they runner claimed she didn’t know what went wrong and that they were the best team out there … GOOOOONNNGGGG  a) you know exactly what went wrong, you dropped the baton because you were not focused and b) every team out there without a DNF after their team name was better than you. 

Note, I was actually surprised at the commentator statements to the same effect at the end of the event – in fact, they basically spelled it out as lack of leadership and inability to deliver across the board.  Before I f0rget, I would like to give some credit to Dix in his respectful acceptance in the bronze medal last night after two faster runners (one an American) failed to stay in their lanes – I think he actually stated he still lost and thanked the officials for the medal – contrast with American supposed silver medalist that was tossing the word “protest” around… tapes rarely lie

by the way, did anyone see the US women’s pole vaulter getting a tongue lashing by her coach because she only won a silver medal?  Can someone direct me to the Olympic Creed again – she made it to the final rounds (runners check that) and then came up one position behind a lady that was clearly tops in the field (…. update, someone mentioned this lady was actually trash talking the gold medalist before the event -if this is true, I will recant my statements since I can’t stand that)

Mission Accomplished for Phelps

I just finished watching Michael Phelps win his 8th Gold Medal at the XXIX Olympic Games.  He came with a mission, executed with determination, supported by the strong efforts of his teammates and brought home the gold.  Congratulations Michael, clearly the greatest Olympian Athlete to date – although with a 12,000 calorie a day diet I’d hate to see his food bill.  In addition to Speedo’s million dollar bonus, I’m also thinking NBC needs to be chipping into the Phelps Phund (see how I cleverly used the Phelps spelling in a phonics play on words – sometimes I crack myself up)  anyway… If it wasn’t for Phelps, I probably would not have been watching as many of the Olympic Games since I prefer the winter version.  As an example, I ended up watching the entire women’s marathon tonight just so I wouldn’t miss Michael’s attempt.  Okay Okay, I like running, but a play by play of a marathon is really not that exciting.

 Oh, so far the US goat goes to Deana Kastor who quit the marathon due to an apparent injury — if she was hurt that bad before the race she should have relinquished to the alternate.. if she hurt herself during the race, then she probably wasn’t prepared since it was a slow start for the race.  I reserve the right to change my mind once details come out, but Paula Radcliffe at least showed the Olympic spirit and finished the race under serious pain (although she also gave up the last time). (note I said US goat because the overall goat is the Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian who threw a hissy fit at the medals ceremony and ended up leaving his bronze medal on the mat.  Luckily the IOC did the right thing and stripped him of the medal … dignity in defeat is as important as humility in victory.  In contrast I give kudos to Tyson Gay who when interviewed about his loss in the semifinals of his race said he was at 100% (had a hamstring injury) and made no excuses beyond not delivering. 

Hats Off!… let the endorsements kick into h$gh gear.

Relevance Lost II

I thought I would continue my list of things that are no longer relevant to me.  For the previous list, visit here. Basically, I’ve been running again which basically leaves me an hour or so for mind wandering.  Anyway, here goes:

  • CBs
  • 20 Packs of Chicken McNuggets (amazing what you can eat when you are kid expending a lot of energy during the day)
  • T-Tops (what a pain in rear – went full convertible)
  • Rotary Phones
  • Wisdom Teeth (first two were yanked out under liquid valium in order to play baseball that night)
  • Saturday Night Live (that show is total crap now)
  • Online – Internet – Gaming  (satellite internet access tends to put an end to online gaming)
  • Corn Palace (total waste of my time)
  • Contact Solution
  • Paying Cash for Gas
  • Greatest Hits Albums with one new Song (if it is good enough, I’ll just download that one song)
  • Hand Written Travel Directions (loving the GPS technology coupled with Google Streets)
  • Stephen King Novels (gone are the days of good output like the Shining)
  • Voodoo Graphic Cards (the best there was during my early gaming years)
  • AMD (spend too many years trying to keep their chips cooled enough not to overheat and torch themselves)
  • Leaded Gas
  • Full Service Gas Stations

That’s all for now.  Ended up I had a bunch on my list that were duplicated from the previous post.  Anybody else have any ideas?  Heading up to see Da’ Bears play a preseason game in Chicago now – I’ll let you know if I observe anything worth posting.

Breakfast with Sinners

This post brought to you by our new sponsor Plans Unfolding.  Ron has done a fantastic job on his recent paper planner software release.  I have been utilizing a similar planner for a number of years now and basically take it with me everywhere I go.  This new release provides a graphical front end for data entry (previously I had to use a powerpoint template which required writing upside down in certain situations) and extremely configurable and downright crisp output due to the LaTeX engine underneath.  If you want to get organized, want to carry a large amount of data without having to reboot or like to have the ability to take notes on the fly — you know… like jotting down an observation you might want to blog on later that day… well, look no further and head on over to the Plans Unfolding website.  Here’s a partial cap of my organizer:

 My Plans Unfolding Organizer

(no animals were harmed in the making of this promotion)

Now on to today’s post.  As mentioned previously, we were heading through Council Bluffs Iowa on our way back from South Dakota when we decided to visit the local casino (Ameristar) and try our luck in the den of the devil.  My wife and I actually do like to gamble (in moderation) and quite frankly if you want a good people watching opportunity… go to a casino – especially in Vegas.  As detailed in the Rath Inn entry, we were up early and out of there as fast as possible, leaving us pretty hungry.  To satisfy this craving, we decided to catch some breakfast in their restaurant.  While we were waiting for the food to arrive, a couple with another man came in and sat at a booth next near us.  I am not sure if they were simply holdovers from the night before or just arriving, but it struck me odd that the solo dude ordered a beer while the other two stuck with water.  I do not drink very much at all (social only) and never for breakfast so it seemed a little interesting, but when the food arrived for the couple it was replaced with a sense of confusion.  Before they dug into their feed, they made the sign of the cross and took a few minutes to say a prayer.  This is not exactly the place I expected to see such conviction seeing as I am not aware of many religions that really endorse such sinful behavior as gambling (and potential lifestyles that can be found in such places).  I didn’t stick around to see if they actually went into the gambling area, but chalked it up as something I really hadn’t witnessed before – don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to people wanting to follow their faith –  as long as it isn’t directed at me, an attempt to influence me, or used to justify violence on your fellow man). 

Plates empty, glass drained… time to hit the tables