Wednesday, April 18, 2007

This is a Multi-purpose blog post...
...this one will hop, skip and jump all over the place!

Virginia Tech Shooting: First, I felt horror at the degree of carnage. After which I thought, "not again". Yet another campus shooting spree. After which I once again thought that too many people in this country who shouldn't have guns, have guns anyway. I am not anti-gun, so you NRA enthusiasts don't have to get your dander up, but is there some kind of way to help insure guns don't get into the wrong hands? It's a different, more vicious world these days, and maybe gun laws need to be amended; perhaps tougher screening of potential gun owners is in order. I have no answers. I only know that shootings wouldn't happen without guns. And students would be safer. We would ALL be safer.

Social Security Cards: Not long ago, I got a new Social Security card. My old one was laminated, which is a big no-no. But something doesn't make sense to me here. Whenever a person gets a job, one of the first things he/she has to do is let the employer see the Social Security Card; a copy is made and put in the employee's file. Well, my new Social Security Card carries this admonishment: "DO NOT CARRY THIS CARD WITH YOU." Huh? What? So you can't carry the card with you when you go to apply for a job? If you don't show your card, you don't get the job. And, a requirement that the Oregon Drivers' License bureau imposes upon you, is that you must show them your Social Security Card. So, you have to, at least, "carry the card" for THAT purpose. "Do Not Carry This Card With You"? Well, we know that does not apply to drivers' licenses. You're stuck carrying one of those around with you FOREVER.

Life On The Coast: I found three "sand dollars" when I was walking on the ocean beach the other day. This is noteworthy because most of the sand dollars that wash up on the particular beach I stroll on are usually broken to bits. Not these. And I thought, "how totally cool." I also bought a pair of binoculars and gave them a good workout the other day. Oftentimes, one can see fishing boats way out there on the ocean, but it isn't until you've seen them out there thru binoculars, that you can appreciate what the fishermen undergo; the ocean may look placid, but even on a calm day, their vessels are pitching up and down and all over the place as the waves toss them about. Makes me glad I'm standing on terra firma. But then again, I've gotten carsick driving my own car. I get a queasy stomach on a ferris wheel. I could probably be a poster child for Dramamine.

I'm gonna miss Imus: Yes, I've beaten this topic to death; I think I wrote about it three times last week. I enjoy people who are individuals, who speak their minds, who can toss their opinions out there in a rough-and-tumble manner. You'll find characters like this all over the place, especially in the blue-collar world. I've met miners, forest service workers, mechanics, truck drivers, cowboys, rednecks and many other people whom I consider to be much more "real" than some white-shirted yuppie businessman who tries to be politically correct in everything he says and does. And, now, MSNBC has another time slot to be filled by young, eager, fresh-faced, politically correct and ultimately boring newspeople. Imus' slur was a huge transgression, but I, for one am gonna miss the tone he and his cronies established on a daily basis. Imus in the Morning, R.I.P.

Another year in my life slides on by: Over the weekend, I turned 53. I think I know how my parents felt when they said they had just quit counting the years. I didn't want to be 50, or 51, or 52. But after considering the alternative, I guess I had no choice. So I'm 53. And I find that I'm a heck of a lot older than many folks I see. And I find I'm grateful when I meet someone older than me, for it's then I don't feel like an antique. And, And, AND, I'm finding that those graying, wrinkle-prone individuals with a slow gait aren't that much older than me anymore. And, I, too, am the proud possessor of my own slow gate. And, just in case you're not aware of all the time that's slipped by, ruminate over this fun fact: Remember the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER album? It was released 40 YEARS ago (as of June 1st of this year).

A musical playground: Between the 1970's to midway thru the 1990's, I played drums for various local bands, and while I'm no Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich, I can do a fairly reasonable job of backing up musicians. Trouble is, I enjoy playing guitar more, and I am getting better on that as well. My take on all this is, "any idiot can play drums", but maybe not just any idiot. So I play drums, but it is much more fulfilling to play guitar, and besides, it's easier on my old aching back. I've been going to jam sessions down here in this little Oregon town, and one nite I made the mistake of offering to play drums for someone on stage. And now I have people wanting me to drum. "Not again", I'm thinking, for I really love to play guitar. Well, now I'm part of an aggregation that consists of a guitarist, a bassist, and me on drums, hosting a jam session. The cool part is that if there's a drummer out there who wants to play, then I get to play guitar. And, tonite, I got to play 'both'. I suppose I won't mind playing drums as long as they don't make me do the Judas Priest or Iron Maiden songbook; I'm too old to thrash about like that.

Thank God for Allopurinol: Back last year, I wrote a few posts about all of the pain I was going through, which came from GOUT. It is a type of arthritis; I like to think of it as an arthritic affliction that's carried around by the blood. People with gout either produce too much uric acid, or don't 'eliminate' enough of it. So, the uric acid, carried by the blood, gets into your joints, crystallizes and grinds away, and I've been told that pain from a severe gout attack rivals terminal cancer pain, and I think I'd believe that. I've been taking Allopurinol for close to a year now, and while I still have an arthritic twinge here and there, NO GOUT ATTACKS, and within reason, I can now eat pretty much what I want without having to worry about that old Gout Monster out there. Yeah, I've got bad knees and limited motion with my lower back the way it is, but I can put up with those. Gout left me defenseless and exhausted from the pain.
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This is a post from deep inside my brain, or at least, the part of my brain that's still working after all these years. In fact, I've probably written the kind of post that I usually stay away from when visiting other people's blogs; you know, posts that contain useless personal observations that don't matter. Okay, I accept that. This is a mundane post. But, since I wrote it, I'd like to think it was uniquely mundane. At least you didn't need seasick pills to get through it!

2 Comments:

Blogger Mari Meehan said...

I don't know Dave. I rather like reading personal observations. Tells me how a person thinks. And shows what they care about. In your case it has all been kind of nice. Though your rants are wonderful! :>)

2:19 PM  
Blogger Lil ol' me... said...

Gosh, Mari, what would I do without ya? You reminded me that I needed to rant. I've been too DAMN NICE lately...so I wrote a new post. And I ranted. Thanks!

4:15 AM  

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