Random Thoughts - 20210928

Random Thoughts - 20210928

There are things that I cannot explain, but that won’t discourage me from trying.

I might consider stopping my car at red traffic signals, but first I’d like to do my own research.

You might receive the benefit of the doubt, but doubt has no real benefit.

Better thoughtful than pleasant. Better prepared than clever.

Life is too short to debate propaganda. It’s like discussing the merits of a turd before flushing it.

Think of the healthcare workers who risk their lives each day to care for people who refused to take care of themselves.

The Beach

I want to drive down to the beach

And strip off all my clothes

Play a silly game

Of tag or Tic-Tac-Toe

Trace the X’s and the O’s

In the sand with my toes

While you sit and shake your head

And tell me I don’t know

How to win the stupid game

But the game is just for show

I win when I am with you

When I make you smile

When we laugh together

And spend this precious time

In the cool ocean breeze

And the warm sunshine

Or anywhere we go

Any season

Any time

No matter what we do

No matter what the weather

As long as you are there

The magic’s in the moments

The time we spend together

And every day I’m with you

That magic just gets better

And more special

Last Dance

I cried at the end of our dance

But I didn’t want to miss a chance

To be with you

To dream with you

To embrace the night

To take that splendid, passionate ride

With you there by my side

Movie Haiku

She walks in his bar

Could the Germans win the war?

Better let her go

-

Scientists, don’t play

With that dino DNA!

Something will go wrong

-

Town things we are nuts

But let’s get the bats and gloves

Time to play some ball

-

Now the beach is closed

Primal fear lurks deep below

Need a bigger boat

-

Try to do some good

Try to help this fearful kid

Who speaks with the dead

-

A princess kidnapped

Droids and heroes race through space

To save the planets

Don’t Recall

California just spent $300 million on a recall election started by people who don’t want to follow public health guidelines. The majority said, “Hell, no! We’re going to stick with the guy who’s trying to keep everyone safe.” Even conservative Orange County voted “No” on the recall.

Three hundred million dollars! Imagine how much firefighting equipment that would have paid for. Imagine how many homeless people that money could have taken off of the streets or how many school lunches it would have provided.

Norm McDonald

I was sad to read of the passing of comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus Norm McDonald. He seemed like a regular guy and a really nice person, like your neighbor who always smiles and shares a funny, memorable story when he see you. His comedy was fun and insightful without ever being mean, gross, or tawdry. One of the greats.

In The Shadow Of 9/11

It was twenty years ago today ... that I needed to find a new place to go for work.

The company had a number of disaster recovery sites in the suburbs, but we were given strict, repeated orders not to go there unless we were officially notified to do so. There were a limited number of desks and computers at the site; they were reserved for people with the most critical jobs.

With no other clear option available, I made daily treks to the Midtown building where I had worked from 1995-99. On any given day, I would see quite a few empty desks, but empty didn’t necessarily mean available. 

In order to log in, I would have to restart the computer at the desk. In those days, people working remotely connected to a running desktop PC. If you rebooted a PC while someone was connected to it, you would terminate their connection. Many desks had “do not reboot” signs pasted on the computer monitors. I tried to avoid touching any machine that seemed as though it might be active.

One day, the manager from a team that I didn’t know walked over and chastised me for using one of “their desks.” My response was polite bewilderment. You’re seriously going to complain about me trying to find an empty desk when my office was destroyed and I had no designated seat at a DR location? Apparently, for the first three days after the attack, a group of traders took over the floor. This left this particular manager feeling vulnerable. I assured her that I would be respectful with their gear.

Over the next 6-8 weeks, the company leased new space out in Jersey and set up more emergency work stations. After two months of foraging for a desk every day, I was directed to report to a bland box of a building in a suburban office park. They had reserved a desk for me there. It was convenient, but dull. I hated going there, even though it wasn’t far from home.

I missed the city. I missed the crowded avenues and the snarled traffic. I missed stopping for a moment of reflection at the makeshift shrines at the firehouses. I missed the look of shock and sadness on the faces of every person that I passed on the sidewalk, the pitiful look in their eyes as you and they wondered silently whether the person on the other end of that glance had lost someone. That was the first question that you asked when you talked to anyone. “Is your family okay?”

The answer was usually yes, but everyone knew someone. Every person in the city was impacted in some way. We felt each other’s grief. It was constant. It was heavy. It was inescapable. 

Remembering Richard - Twenty Years Later

Remembering my colleague Richard Rosenthal. Praying for all of the families who have carried on these past twenty years with an empty chair at the table.

Reason

Everything happens for a reason. Be one of the reasons why good things happen.

Constitutional Authority

Have you noticed that anything that people DON’T want to do is “unconstitutional,” and anything that they DO like is “protected by the constitution”? What an amazing system!

Texas Abortion Law

The Texas Taliban have enacted an anti-abortion law pushing women back into the Stone Age with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, while simultaneously institutionalizing a Soviet-style spy culture where citizens are PAID to sue their neighbors without absolute impunity. Anyone who is thusly sued cannot recover legal fees, even if the court finds in their favor.

The US Supreme Court has refused to intervene.