THE END OF AN ERA...
...well, it's the end of something...feels like it anyway...

Ichiro, now a Yankee

What can I do but come right out and say it...Ichiro Suzuki is no longer a part of the Seattle Mariners' Organization as of today, July 23, 2012. Just like that. This is where I get to stroke my ego, because I've long thought (and mentioned here in this blog) that Ichiro, sooner or later, would be wearing Yankee pinstripes, although I've thot that less likely over the last few years, simply because the passing of time makes all of us old, and Ichiro ain't gettin' any younger. I don't really have a 'favorite moment' regarding Ichiro, although, especially early on, I marveled at his speed and his cannon-of-a-throwing-arm. Oh, and all of those 200-plus-hits-seasons. So he's now a New York Yankee. During tonight's game, the camera pointed to Ichiro in the Yankees' dugout and I felt a chill coming from my TV. The Mariners got a couple of young pitchers in return for their trouble. So will the M's excel without Ichiro? Certainly not. Will the M's win their division anytime soon? No. There'll be another team in the M's division next year that the M's have to contend with. Will the M's ever achieve a .500 winning percentage? They'd better think about that if they expect to contend sometime during the next decade.
________________________________________

Amy Winehouse, 1983-2011

ONE YEAR SINCE SHE PASSED: In a way, I think she died a long time ago. Her marriage broke apart, the papparazzi wouldn't leave her be, she'd acquired a monster drug habit, and basically her career was more or less over by 2009. She had been stockpiling songs for her third album, but during her last couple of years, she didn't record anything especially noteworthy. And she finally ended up going to "rehab" (yes, yes, yes). In her prime, the whole world was hers. She was excited, full of vim and vigor, and her voice carried an edge that was reminiscent of the best of the lady blues singers down through the ages. But she was booed off stage at a comeback performance early last year; she showed up drunk and couldn't hold a note or remember the lyrics to songs she had written. She'd already died;  the only difference was that on July 23, 2011 was that her heart stopped beating. She'd rendered herself irrelevant a long time before. She'd been off drugs for three years, but she still had problems with the bottle...the authorities found three empty vodka bottles in her apartment on the day of her death. Suicide? Binge drinking? Mental obliteration? She was just 27. Such a sad tale.
________________________________________

BLESSED INSURANCE: If you're a licensed motorist, you know the drill. Show proof of insurance upon demand from your friendly man (or woman) in blue. You also have to supply proof of insurance to the monolithic state transportation department when ya get yer license. Well, A couple of weeks ago, I received a notice that I was among a random group of drivers targeted to Show Evidence Of Insurance being maintained on my part. It was a "RESPONSE REQUIRED" mailing. Of course I sent the reply in, so (hopefully the State Of Oregon) is resting easy now that I've supplied proof of insurance. Again. The only problem I have with this is being (vaguely) warned in said note with suspension of driving privileges if I failed to respond. Wait a minute...I'd already supplied proof of insurance several times during the last few years, and now you're THREATENING ME if I don't supply proof of insurance...again??? Gosh, you guys. Ease Up. Quit your heavy-handed ways.
_______________________________________

SOMETHING TO GET PUMPED ABOUT: The Gas Station Attendant (you can't pump your own gas in Oregon) told me something which I'd been wondering about for a while: When your Gas Tank's full, you get better mileage! There's less air in the tank, which means less room for condensation, resulting in purer gas being fed to the engine. I've been filling up my tank for the last few months, and noticed that the better part of a month would go by before I needed to fill up again. Giving the long distances between things on the Southern Oregon Coast, I've been using my share of gas going to points "A" and "B" (plus all other points in-between). I knew I'd been putting more in the tank via the fill-ups, but for some reason, I was going further than I expected to. So re-mortgage your house or do whatever you have to do to afford a full gas tank; once you do that, you may find you're going further than you thought you would. Which really helps when a trip to the Post Office is a ten-mile round trip.
________________________________________

So there ya go, I've fed the Blog Monster once again. I'm finding that I've basically got to reserve an entire evening to do this. Maybe I should load up on carbs and proteins so I get more blogging mileage?