- After years of toying with the garage door and having it serviced more than I’d like to admit, I finally just bought a brand new one and had it installed. I went the Craig’s List route and saved about two-hundred bucks I think. The guy that worked on it was so nice and polite I even tipped him, and I haven’t seen someone so thankful in a long time.
- For the second time in my life, I decided to shave my head with a razor. It brings out the half-Asian in me more so than usual.
- Here are four things I think every man needs to do at least once in his life:
- Shave his head. Maybe not with a razor, but a buzzcut without a guard.
- Let the hair grow out at least six months without a haircut or trim.
- Grow a beard for at least half a year.
- I forgot the fourth.
- Here are four things I think every man needs to do at least once in his life:
- The Olympics reminds me of all the times I failed to commit to something. Age, experience, and perspective will do that do you. But it really makes me appreciate what medal winners have to do. Seriously, we may see only one minute of glory in their life, but to get to that moment, you’re looking at dedication which required going to bed early, waking up early, turning down social engagements to make early practice, diet and nutrition, doing what needs to be done when you are drained and have no motivation, injury and rehab, and on and on and on….for years.
- It was so neat seeing NBA players from the men’s national team in the audience cheering on Michael Phelps. Not only does it feel like the tables have turned, that they aren’t in the spotlight, but it’s neat seeing professional athletes admire greatness and be a part of history. Phelps is that rare athlete that can have a laser-like focus and turn it up to an eleven, much like Jordan, but different.
- I think every summer Olympics from here to eternity, you’ll hear the name Nadia Comaneci dropped at least once during gymnastics. I think it will now be the same with Michael Phelps, and no one will remember the name Mark Spitz.
- I can’t find the exact quote, and I’m going to botch it a bit, but he really impressed me at one press conference when his career first took off when he said, “I”m not looking to be the next Mark Spitz, I’m looking to be Michael Phelps.”
- I wonder if anyone calls him Mike.
- Wasn’t a fan of NBC’s commentators for swimming yesterday. One guy did everything he could do to try to jinx Phelps, so much so I thought Phelps was going to pull up with a cramp. He also said Phelps was exhausted after his last race for the night. Well, duh, you’re supposed to leave it all out there and give it all you got. Also, one of the announcers for gymnastics sounds exactly like Lester Holt and it throws me everytime.
- I’ve never known anyone or their child who has competed in diving and have no idea even if that’s an option around these here part, yet one recently one a medal.
- It’s funny how most of us will watch something like gymnastics and critique it yet have no idea what’s really good or bad. But I guess you know when you see it.
- Since so many flags of all the nations are manufactured in China, I wonder if the Chinese delegation just brings it with them.
- I thought Scott Pelley took a small jab at NBC last night with this statement during the ‘CBS Evening News’:
- “Fair warning. We are about to report an Olympic result because it is news. It’s not our fault that the TV coverage is delayed. Here it is…”
- Pelley and his wife recently bought a flatiron condo. I have no idea what a flatiron condo was.
- The Cowboys have been in a downward decline of morality for years, and it looked much worst yesterday when Art Briles visited their training camp. I think Stephen Jones is trying to do some sort of power pose.
- I thought I could find some stuff on Men’s Fitness’ website on blood pressure, but nope.
- The guys on The TICKET were joking around and one of them playfully stated that the anticipation of the holidays, or an event, is better than the holiday or event itself. I thought about that for a good five minutes and agree for the most part. It’s not always about the destination, but the journey.
- Popular Mechanics – Texas Is Drowning in Wind Energy – Yes, you can have too much of a good thing.
- Today’s dose of ‘MURICA! (I guess)
- And yet she’s the one that spent time in prison – Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg to Host Weekly ‘Dinner Party’ Show on VH1
- I’m not sure I stated this yet, but Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ is a phenomenal mini-series. Non-spoiler thoughts will be posted soon. For those of you that do watch, when I’m mad at WifeGeeding, I now refer to her as a mouth-breather.
- I used to work at the huge Fidelity Investments campus in Westlake. TD Ameritrade was just down the road in a very sizable building. So this news was a bit surprising to me – Schwab campus in Westlake will bring 1,200 jobs to North Texas
- The Charles Schwab Corp. will build a $100 million, 500,000-square-foot regional campus in Westlake that ultimately will bring 1,200 jobs to North Texas within10 years.
- If memory serves me correct, Fidelity gets a tax break by having cattle on their land.
- I bet a lot of folks thought this was an easy no-brainer decision for Truman to make.
President Truman writes to Senator Richard Russell today 1945 about his plans for ending war against Japan: pic.twitter.com/svuCEQey8c
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 9, 2016
A Flatiron condo is just a condo in the Flatiron District, no? Like saying a SoHo condo or an Upper East Side condo, I think.
I figured a Flatiron condo would be one located inside NYC's Flatiron Building, although I don't think it's actually used for living space, so it probably is in "the District". Wiki: "There are oddities about the building's interior: the bathrooms are divided, with the men's rooms on even floors and the women's rooms on odd ones; to reach the top floor, the 21st…a second elevator has to be taken from the 20th floor."
"William Jenkins Worth, the man for whom the city of Fort Worth is named, is buried at the base of Manhattan's Flatiron Building, which inspired the design of the Fort Worth building."
The interwebs is fun sometimes!
As for cattle tax break, that is true…sorta. All of that land was once ranch property. As a working agricultural enterprise it was exempted for 'normal' property taxes (at least got a break of some sort). As they have continued to develop the land, they have left key parts undeveloped and have continued to use that for for Ag purposes. So, the sections that they raise cattle on (or hay, or other ag crops) continue to receive the Ag Exemption for property taxes on that section of land…and only that section.
That being said, there are rules they have to follow. Something like they have to make a profit on that ag enterprise land 'x' out of 'y' years or something. So, they must grow enough hay to sell or raise enough calves to sell for a profit. That is why you seldom see horses on that type of property, it is much more difficult to make profits on horses compared to cattle, hay or other Ag enterprises.
– I guess you missed this story about the Chinese flags http://time.com/4445373/rio-2016-olympics-china-w…
What's interesting is that this Wall Street Journal article states those incorrect Chinese flags were most likely made in China. "It wasn’t clear who produced the erroneous flags, though CCTV said last week that “all the national flags that will be hoisted during the [opening] ceremony are made in China,” as part of a report asserting that Chinese-made products “will be an integral part of the Olympics.” http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/08/08/fla…
RE: BP
True story.
When I was young I was one of those guys that only went to the Dr. if I really needed to for like, sinus infections, poison ivy on my privates(true story) and hurting my neck while playing golf(true story).
Then I turned 50, and decided seeing a Dr. on a regular basis may be a good thing to do, so I went(Forest Gump voice)
My BP was 180/120, for the record, that is not good. The Dr. thought I may be experiencing "white coat syndrome" which occurs when people stress out when they see the Dr. So they let me sit for a while, and came back and took my BP again. This time, 210/140, which obviously, is worse than 180/120.
Panic sets in, for the Dr., not me, and he starts asking me a bunch of questions and ordering an EKG.
The put me on a BP medication, which helped, but I was still running high, so they added a 2nd medication and my BP came under control. Nowadays, just under 10 years later, I just take 1 med, 10 mg. of Benicar once a day and I'm back on the streets.
I'm also sensing anxiety from you regarding a cardiac stress test. Fear not. It only takes 15 minutes from beginning to end and even I could do it.
They will hook you up to an EKG machine and have you on a treadmill or stationary bike. Either way, you can wear shorts and a decent pair of tennis shoes and you'll be fine. You can stop at a BBQ joint on the way home.
They have you walk/peddle until your heart rate hits 160/minute. Then you stop, and they monitor your heart rate until it comes back down to normal(or you die, which ever comes last).
The technician takes the report off the machine and shows it to the Dr. That's when you get good news or bad news, in my case, good news, then you are back on the streets.
If anything odd happens during the test, the technician will shut you down and call the Dr. immediately. This happened to an acquaintance of mine and he was immediately hospitalized and had a double bypass, and is alive and kicking, as of this posting anyway.
It's really one of the easiest medical tests I've ever done, and I've got close to 20 years on you.
RE: The 4th thing
Just some ideas to help you remember.
Waxing?
Pedicure?
Doing a "special" dance for your partner? (while wearing your sexy man shorts)
Trying on make up?
Coloring your hair?
Chopping down a try with an ax?
Get a facial?
Any bells so far?……lol
RE: Tax breaks for cattle on your property.
Years ago, when Ross Perot built the "God Pod" complex for EDS at the tollway and Legacy, they kept about 20 or so Texas Longhorn cattle on the property in the non-developed acreage in order to get this agricultural tax break.
I'd thought Truman was blindsided by Hiroshima/Nagasaki – though he must have known about the capability and even the plan beforehand. Roosevelt died less than 4 months before the bombings, and I thought they were kept deep undercover. N.B.: just checked: he learned about the Manhattan project about 2 weeks after Roosevelt's death.
Had it been an easy decision, I would be alarmed for the presidency and the future of the nation. The decision to authorize annihilation of 125K – 250K people, most of them civilian, shouldn't be easy.