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This page stores my blog entries from December 2006.  These entries are from December 17 and December 27. Back to the Blog Archive Christmas Time is Here / November Writings: Election Day, Why Short Weeks really are Longer, and Reflection on Softball War Wound Sunday, December 17, 2006 Days of Freedom: 5 -=-=- The Christmas tree, freshly cut from a local grower, glows brightly. Lox, bagels, and cream cheese for breakfast. A poor-man's brisket (actually a pot roast I bought on sale and cooked per a brisket recipe) ready to go and latkes frying in olive oil. The baking of the shortbread will complete the holiday mood in my apartment. I'm relatively on top of things this holiday season. I finished my shopping some time ago. My Christmas cards were mailed a few days ago. All I have to do is bake what I need and get things for work people together and ready, and I'll be all done with the rushing around. I can relax, sip my eggnog, and enjoy the all-important football games in comfort. Work festivities included a silent auction and a potluck. I won a football that I'll give to Pam's family's annual clothes and toy drive. I kind of miss how I used to go with this group to convalescent homes and sing Christmas carols. Maybe I'll find a way to do that (or something similar to that) in the coming years. Right now, I'm just the "basso profundo", according to Pam's family. The shortbread is cooking right now. Two cups of butter and 4 1/3 cups of flour doesn't seem to make a whole lot. With six people who should be receiving this from me, I may have to make a whole lot more. Coming up, a reflection on the past year. Wow, has it been a good one. ********** ********** Below are some random writings I had over the past month or so. Enjoy. -=-=-=-=-=-=- Election day. The day doesn't have as much meaning to me since I'm an absentee balloter. I still get interested in the results and if anything I voted for actually passed or got voted in. There's a little more push for me to make my decisions because I need to mail it off well before election day. But, come election day, I don't need to go to the polls. I can just go home like any other day. This year, I accompanied Pam to the polls where she would vote. I stood aside and away from voters and eventual voters. For some of the time, I read the informational posters on the wall (one on voter's rights; one on provisional ballots). I spent the rest of the time watching the election volunteers and the voters. While watching these people sitting around behind the folding tables or voting in the small metal booths, I began to sense that feeling of many years of historical tradition. That feeling of being a part of history and doing the same thing that people have done for a couple hundred years in this country to decide on matters that'll shape the future in ways we don't really know. A feeling I don't get with the absentee ballot in the comfort of my own home. Somehow, that feeling helped me to regret not spending more time on this election. I don't know whether it was the historical value, or if it was the feeling of how dedicated and passionate some of the election volunteers might be when it comes to voting and the political process. We'll see what happens next year. I hope to start as soon as I receive my Sample Ballot and Voter Information Guide. I have web sites for politicians I can visit, even though I found, this year, that those aren't always very helpful. ********** ********** For some reason, shorter work weeks seem to require more work than normal ones. The answer: each day is more than one day. Therefore, you're actually doing multiple days' worth of work in one 24-hour period. Let's take a four-day work week, Tuesday through Friday. Each day becomes: - Tuesday: it's also a Monday due to being the first day of the week; - Wednesday: also a Tuesday, due to a similar note of logic for Tuesday; - Thursday: also a Wednesday; and - Friday: also a Thursday. A three-day work week, Monday through Wednesday, becomes more complex: - Monday: also a Wednesday because it's the third day before the last day of the week; - Tuesday: it's actually Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It's Wednesday because it's the middle day of the week. It's Thursday because it's the day before the last day of the week; and - Wednesday: also a Friday. So, if you feel unusually hurried during a short week, you now know why: you're doing multiple days' work in one day! ********** ********** Today, November 30, marks a little more than two and a half months since I first slid on my left leg and tore it to bits. It's been a bit more than a month since I slid on it ... a second time. I've been walking without pain for about two weeks. The massive peeling stopped a couple of weeks ago or so. The only signs that anything happened are the large discolored patches on my leg. As the peeling stopped, the color of said patches turned from a raw red color towards the normal semi-tanned white boy color. I'm a little surprised that so much time has elapsed and so much healing still has to occur. ********** ********** Back to the top Baseball Hall of Fame '07 Thoughts / Thunderbird rules! / Christmas '06 / Run 'N' Gun Fun: Records? Wednesday, December 27, 2006 "I totally don't know what that means, but I want it." --- Days of Freedom: 15 --- Sometime in the next week or two, the Baseball Writers Association of America will cast their ballots for who should enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame (a.k.a. "Cooperstown"). I itch each year to find out how the writers voted and who got voted in. Usually, the choices are easy, and it's not any different this year with Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn as first-timers. It's pretty clear why Mark McGwire would be a heavy favorite as well, though I can kind of see why he may not make it on the first ballot. (Maybe this'll finally be Jim Rice's year; it darn well should be.) It may be harder to tell which new candidates won't make it past this year. A player has to receive at least 5% of the votes to be kept on the ballot for the next year. I think many will fall in this range, and they should be Dante Bichette, Scott Brosius, Jay Buhner, Eric Davis, Paul O'Neill, and Bobby Witt. Several others might fall in there, but I think they represent more borderline possibilities who may just outlast the 15-year eligibility period (e.g. Tony Fernandez or Harold Baines). I feel kind of sad perusing the list of candidates and seeing who probably won't see another ballot. When I grew up and collected baseball cards, players like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were in their prime, and Don Mattingly hit like no other first baseman in the majors. Pitchers feared facing Eric Davis, and very few pitchers won like Jack Morris. All of them looked like certain Hall of Famers at the time. Many great players have the Hall of Fame as their last crack at immortality, and it seems that the ones who don't make it generally are forgotten. Although, these players are never forgotten by their true fans. Fans won't forget how Eric Davis tore up the NL and fought against cancer to play again. Nobody will forget Orel Hershiser's 59-inning scoreless streak. They won't forget Scott Brosius' clutch hits for the Yankees in the post-season. ********** ********** I seem to discover rather cool things about Thunderbird every week. I love that it'll tell me when I have new mail without me having to check. Then, I can download the new messages as I get them, rather than randomly checking. ********** ********** Christmas came and went, and I had fun. I spent this year with Pam's family. Pam hosted Christmas Eve with a wonderful beef and ham stew. From there, we bounded off to her extended family's Christmas Eve festivities and sang Christmas carols, ate, and drank to our hearts' content. On Christmas Day, I made my first buttermilk waffles for breakfast. I'm funny when it comes to pancakes and waffles because I don't really care for syrup anymore. It tastes too sweet or something. Instead, I had raspberry jam on a couple and some powdered sugar on one. With a large mug of hot chocolate in my new Christmas mug, I sat in my loveseat and listened to my Christmas CDs while catching up on the newspaper. Eventually, I got ready and headed to Pam's parents' house for the family gathering and meal. Overall, I got some very cool stuff. I have some decisions to make, since one of my presents will help me re-start an old hobby of mine. I gave out some cool stuff, and people liked them a lot. After bread last year and shortbread this year, I may have to find something a little more unique or curious for next year. Now comes the plans for New Year's, and I think those should be set. This assumes that I hear from the host a confirmation of goings-on for that night. ********** ********** 84-0. 927 yards. Those are my current highs in Run 'N' Gun on MySpace's games page. I can't conceive getting a higher score or gaining too many more yards. I do wonder what MySpace shows as being the records for this game. Back to the Top