My entire household has been under the weather this week. All of us have used sick time, and it appears to be my turn now. I intended to update this site on Wednesday, but never got that far. It was supposed to be a cute post about partying too much with the old under-the-bed monster. Halloween is a distant memory tonight, so that ship has kind of sailed. By the time my commute ended, the game was already on, and I wasn’t up for blogging.
I managed to update the wallpaper for November. I snapped a photo of Old What’s Her Face’s maple tree in the front yard. The image is so big it kind of blurs along the edges of my site, but it looks artsy. Boise is ablaze with colors right now, and her tree is awesome.
Today is a good day for the fireplace, a cup of good tea, and complaining. Let’s complain.
Advertising
The radio ads on Sirius radio are worse than ever these days. There is one about getting help paying off credit card debt. It annoys me when they say you don’t have to pay it all back. The fact is you borrowed the money, you spent it, and you agreed to the terms of the loan. You get to keep the big-screen television, and they make it sound like a good thing that you don’t have to pay for it. What really chaps me is they say, “Don’t let the credit card companies trick you into thinking you have to pay it all back.” They even emphasize the word taaRICK to make the point. Nobody’s being tricked here. What they don’t tell you is that you are supposed to give them money to help you avoid paying a bill you owe. Bet they don’t take credit.
The other one is a mortgage lender who talks about a “yourgage.” Oh-my-God! That’s soooo cool, I’ll take out a loan against my house because yourgage sounds so much better than a mortgage. Getting a mortgage is a big deal, and it’s complicated. It should not be reduced to a click type app based upon snap decisions, and I don’t think they need some fake buzzword to make it sound better than what their competitors offer. Consumers really should shop around and even work up a budget themselves to see if they’re ready for this massive step.
Just throw the damned ball.
I’m excited for the Houston Astros. Last night they won their first ever World Series. It was a good series too, taking all seven games to decide the victor. It will never match 2001 in my mind, playing in New York the same year as the 911 attacks, oh and my Diamondbacks won. It doesn’t match the series from last year, or the bloody sock series, but it was pretty darned exciting. So where’s the gripe?
The gripe is in the length of the games. These guys start playing at seven or eight years old. They’ve played all their lives, including the minors and major leagues. They’ve had access to the best coaching. They know this game. A batter steps out of the box to mess with the pitcher’s timing. Do you really think that’s going to do anything to Kershaw or Verlander? What it does is adds time to the game.
The pitcher then comes off the mound to talk to the catcher, but wait, the entire infield has to come in too. Presumably, they’re talking about what to throw and the expected outcome. When he’s ready, they all go back to their positions, the catcher delivers his signs, the pitcher nods… and the batter steps out of the box again. This brings the pitching coach out of the dugout to talk to the entire infield once more, and the process starts all over again.
The guy delivers his pitch and then they replace the pitcher. Add fifteen minutes for the next guy to get ready, then repeat the whole process.
Just throw the friggin ball! This isn’t your first time on the mound. This isn’t the first situation you’ve ever seen. All of the position players have trained their entire lives for this.
When I was young, games used to last about two and a half hours. These games have been lasting six hours or more. I’m in the mountain time zone and one of them didn’t get over until midnight. Heaven forbid you’re an East Coast fan. “Sorry, son, you can’t watch the World Series, because your school bus will probably leave before the game ends.”
The regular season isn’t like this, but the playoffs always are. I understand there’s more on the line, but if you aren’t ready for it, maybe you shouldn’t be playing at this level. It isn’t going to get better until MLB does something about it. When it comes to baseball, I hate changes, but it’s time to act.
I probably have more, but my kettle is boiling and I need to get back to blowing my nose and figuring out what moved into my throat.
Hope you feel better soon. With you on the advertisements even though I’ve never heard of those. Know a few people who talk like the credit card thing. Many declarations of ‘if they want their money then they can come and take it!’, which makes no sense. Mostly because I wonder what they will do if they send a large man over for the money. Whoever came up with Yourgage or whatever should be kept away from civilized society. They’re obviously a cannibal waiting to happen.
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I think they’re the first ones eaten when the zombies come.
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We can make sure of it.
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I’m with you… That 2001 series was the best. I’m a big Diamondback fan as well…AND, beating the Yankees, WOW! Really thought they had a shot this year… Maybe next year – seems they might be on ‘track’.
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I hope so too, but there is a big money issue staring them in the face. Lots of arbitration eligible players and some bloated contracts in place.
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Feel better soon, Craig!
And the tree is lovely.
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Thanks, Staci.
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May you feel better soon!
Six hours for a frickin’ baseball game? And there were seven of them? Can you tell I don’t follow baseball? Gah.
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To make it worse, I’m man sick. I’m just in a crappy mood because of this. Six hours is way too long. I get there is a lot on the line, but some of us peons have things on the line too, like work and school.
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I agree. It would be one thing if it was one single game a year but seven?!??!??! I’m not even sick OR a man and I’m outraged.
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Still, your home team has to be kind of cool.
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Hope you feel better soon. I’m with you on the ads. I can’t imagine anyone being proud of themselves for charging a bunch of stuff and then not having to pay for it.
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Some sleep, maybe some tea, and I hope the crankiness passes. Hey, Houston has to be a big deal to most Texans, so go you guys.
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People here are so pleased. The city of Houston needed a boost and those of us in ravaged areas are so happy for them. I guess it means a lot to most Texans, I know I was very pleased to see them win especially with a decisive score.
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I’m happy for you guys, and pleased with the outcome too.
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🙂
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by the way I had originally written “I’m glad to know you don’t feel well so I can expect the old man crankiness will pass with the symptoms.” I chickened out cause I thought it would be like piling on when you don’t feel well. I still think it is worth a laugh though so here it is.
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It’s the truth, and we both know it.
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Ha ha ha. 😀
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I suffer from early-onset old-man crankiness.
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I almost added a section dedicated to “…in awareness of…” There are so many parades, dog walks, and runs these days to make me aware of things. How much do I need to be aware of? I demand a parade to bring awareness to old man crankiness.
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Embrace the cranky you.
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Well I loooooove the color background! It’s quite arty 🙂
I’m so sorry your household’s had the sick. I hope you’re all well enough to enjoy the weekend. Any hope of that?
I’m kinda laughin at the way you wrote the baseball stuff, because Craig, there was a time in life when I liked baseball. I suppose I was maybe 6 or 7. First grade-ish. I wonder how much of the wasted time, the dragging on, is due to commercialism? I remember watching a game while Grandma made supper, while we ate supper, and a bit after. Not when Nightline came on and Grandpa went to work the night shift!
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It could be related to that, but if it’s about squeezing in more ads they’ll eventually start losing fans.
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Oh dear, Craig, I am sorry you are ill. The world always seem harder and blacker when you are sick. I like your new blog very much.
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Thanks, Robbie.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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I love the new tree background, fabulous colour! Get better soon, for I’m not used to you complaining!
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It’s a pretty tree, and there are several in the neighborhood like it. Town is looking pretty right now.
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When you mentioned the team coming in from the outfield and congregating, it made me think of Bull Durham when they’re discussing wedding presents, a live chicken sacrifice, breathing through the wrong eyelid, etc – one of my favorite scenes. Feel better, Craig!
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Thanks, Teri. Working on it.
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It is nice to have a little rant while you are sick. You make some valid points, though. Happy to see Astros win, too. Hope you feel better soon.
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Thanks, I’m working on getting back to snuff.
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Ick – my sympathies! 🙂 I’m on my 3rd term of playing host to that ‘lurgy’ – a good steaming hot tea and long and lusty moaning sesssion was certainly in order! 😉
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Might as well share my gripes with the world. Oh, look at the pretty tree image…
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Hope you feel better soon. There’s a lot of gunk going around in my office right now but so far I’ve been fortunate enough that I haven’t caught it.
Commercials on Sirius radio? Why don’t I remember hearing any? My radio subscription expired while I was away and I need to activate it again. I’ve been on Amazon Prime music the last few days.
Glad the Astros won, but that’s a ridiculous amount of time for a series game!
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I listen to the MLB channel, and there are a ton of ads. The bulk of my weekend will involve shedding this cold.
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Feel better soon, Craig. I hate it when the “bugs” start making their way around. My late husband always said that was how the terrorists would eventually defeat us…with germs that make us deathly ill. Who knows. He might have been right. Maybe there’s a story somewhere in that theory. 🙂
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I actually have some notes about that theory and a partial outline.
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Cool!
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Oh, I hope you’re starting to feel better, Craig, that lurgy sounds awful. And I agree totally about the baseball game – six hours is ridiculous! Sending good wishes for a quick recovery 🙂
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Thanks, Helen.
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Then if you watch on TV, they put in commercials, too…
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I hate that kind of sick.. it feels like everyone just keeps on infecting everyone else, and you’ll all be stuck there for ever! … The leaves look stunning. Kudos to OWHF and her green thumbs. 🙂
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It just drags me down. No wish I could die kind of sickness, but no energy and can’t concentrate either. Glad you like the background.
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Wishing you well!
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Thanks, Traci.
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I do hope you are on the road to recovery 💜
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Working on it, thanks.
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