Bag of Randomness for Friday, May 13, 2022

  • Yesterday I attended an awards assembly at BoyGeeding’s school. When it was over, I heard one father chastise his son, “When you went on stage to get your award, why didn’t you look at me and your mother?” Poor kid.
  • The Seahawks pranked their players with a ridiculously unfair fake schedule
    • The Seattle Seahawks already knew they’d have a tough schedule with the most miles traveled of any NFL team this season. And when some Seahawks got word of additional details of their 2022 slate, they couldn’t believe how much tougher it really was. Four straight road games? No bye week after their trip to Germany? Playing on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day?
  • Trying to date again after being married for so long is weird. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully adjust to dating apps. I’ve been reluctant to reveal some of my insecurities on my dating profiles. For instance, I’m a liberal and a Christian, yet I live in Texas. I’m the blueberry in tomato soup. Off-hand, I’d think that would cause many ladies to swipe left. However, I recently updated my profile to include those facts and also added that they won’t catch me hunting, camping, or listening to country music. To my surprise, I’ve actually been contacted more in the last week than I have in the past year. One woman, who I feel is a bit out of my league, has a profile in which you’d think she’d prefer a guy who likes those things I don’t. Curios, I asked her what on my profile piqued her interest. Her response made me smile.
  • Speaking of politics and if I can add a little humor, I thought it was us dirty libs that were rigging elections – GOP staffers fired after possible ‘ballot harvesting’ operation found in Pa.
  • When it comes to texting and messaging apps, grammar and spelling don’t matter to me. But this response to a question made me smile because it reminded me of Arrested Development’s Buster Bluth.

  • Speaking of military branches – US Navy chief defends plan to scrap troubled warships even though some are less than 3 years old
    • “I refuse to put an additional dollar against a system that would not be able to track a high-end submarine in today’s environment,” Gilday told the committee. He said the main reason for the early retirement was that the anti-submarine warfare system on the ships “did not work out technically.” The decommissioning of the ships would save the Navy approximately $391 million, according to the service’s proposed FY23 budget. But that recoups only a fraction of the cost of the nine littoral combat ships, which totaled about $3.2 billion.
  • My ex would be capable of pulling such a stunt – Wife filled husband’s phone with child porn in attempt to get custody of children, Oklahoma police say
  • Earlier in this post, I used the word “piqued.” I first wanted to use “peaked” but according to this website, I would have been incorrect – Is It Peaked, Peeked Or Piqued My Interest?
  • For a while, when I was forced to create a new password, I’d reference things that I liked. However, it seemed whenever I did so, bad luck regarding those things would happen. For instance, when I used something Dak Prescott related, he broke his leg. When I to used 30 Rock references, the next week they announced the series was going to end. So, now that I’m divorced, all my passwords relate to my ex or a place she and her family worships as a golden calf.
  • Impressive physical feat by both the guy and the gal.
    https://twitter.com/TheFigen/status/1524778223250325505
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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, May 12, 2022

  • A long-time loyal reader gave me a huge laugh yesterday afternoon. Y’all know how much I hate wind chimes. Oh, I loath them and can rant for days about it. To my surprise, he had Amazon deliver one to me. Bravo, great joke! I immediately sent him a thank-you text, and his reply was almost as good as the initial joke.
  • Random memory – Umbro shorts. I never wore any. I think they were more for girls.
  • Not only was this a gift within a gift, but the memories will last a lifetime – Northeast Philly Catholic school accidentally sold Mother’s Day flowers stuffed with thongs
    • St. Anselm School, at 12650 Dunks Ferry Road in the Parkwood neighborhood, which serves about 250 students from pre-K through eighth grade, mistakenly sold fake roses that had red thongs folded inside the flowers. One St. Anselm family shared the discovery on social media – and the mom and dad didn’t seem too upset by it.School officials explained that the roses were purchased under the impression that they were suitable for Mother’s Day. The school didn’t realize they were frisky Valentine’s Day gifts obviously intended for adults, and not ideal for an elementary school, let alone a Catholic school.
  • Ransomware has gone down because sanctions against Russia are making life harder for attackers – The number of ransomware attacks has gone down in recent months because sanctions against Russia are making it harder for cyber criminals to organise attacks and receive ransom payments, Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency (NSA), has revealed. 
  • It’s such a sad and crazy world we live in – North Texas teen who went missing from Mavs game was advertised and sold for sex in Oklahoma City. Her family says many people could’ve stopped it.
  • This happened in Luxembourg, and I will sheepishly admit I thought was a city and not an entire country – Dance teacher asked to apply for “stripper, escort” position in job agency blunder
  • Unfortunately, there’s a paywall. I feel like the intro make help some of those who just don’t understand why some folks just love talking about BBQ – The unspoken legacy of Black barbecue: 12 D-FW restaurants that are ‘guarding tradition’
    • I’ve begun examining Black-owned restaurants with time-honored traditions in D-FW that have one singular focus, and in doing so I have rediscovered my familiarity with what perhaps is one of the South’s greatest exports — not cotton, not rice, but barbecue. For me, barbecue has always provided an intangible closeness with my family. We may not have been the best communicators, but I don’t think an argument ever continued over a plate of ribs. When words fail us, barbecue — or rather, the act of standing over a pit and watching the fire subside — has been an emotional pull that helps us recount our past.
  • I got a kick out of these series of tweets, and you will took if you have been keeping up with the costs of housing and familiar with pop-culture.

    https://twitter.com/floraoddchild/status/1522989505975930880

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Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, May 11, 2022

  • Last night was DaughterGeeding’s softball team’s first and only playoff game. Yup, they lost. But I’m proud of her for challenging herself, playing in a sport she knew nothing about and with none of her close friends. Since she’s at a charter school, the league is weird. For instance, and as I mentioned, she’s a sixth-grader playing against juniors and seniors in high school.
  • The game prior to her game got intense, with parents coming out of the stands trying to get up close to the umpire. The coach for those parents had to come out of the dugout and talk the crowd down. I started to record just in case something really got out of hand.
  • It appears one girl in the game last night tore her ACL. She said she heard and felt a loud pop. This was very telling. It was our coach who went to check on her and literally carry her to her dugout while her coach watched. It was surreal.
  • I learned our coach will sometimes speak Spanish to our Spanish-speaking players because he noticed it calms them down and they perform better. He said he first noticed it when Spanish-speaking parents would root for their children in Spanish and not in English.
  • Because DaughterGeeding and BoyGeeding had games at the same time, there was no way both parents could attend each. Again, with my ex not there, I had a great time interacting and getting to know the other parents. When she’s there, I feel I must guard and keep to myself, otherwise she might accuse me of harassment.
  • On Monday, Jake on The TICKET said he gifted his wife a wind chime for Mother’s Day. Longtime readers know I hate the wind chime with extreme prejudice. After letting it hang outside for one day, he went on a huge rant on how annoying, nerve-wracking, and inconsiderate they are.
  • Yesterday when I picked up DaughterGeeding from school, a random kid walked up to me and said, “Sir, I just wanted to say thank you for your service.” I had to level with him and tell him I never served, but my dad served enough for all of us and I’ll take what he said as way too honor my dad.
  • I’m not sure why, but the term “bucket list” annoys me. I think I used to like it until the movie by the same name came out. Well, on my list, I’ve always wanted to stay at a Ritz-Carlton. In college, I did a case study on them for both my undergrad and graduate degree and was heavily impressed. Yesterday, I realized I can potentially mark that item off the list because my employer will reimburse me up to $5,000 on a vacation as a reward for being with them for ten years. I looked up the D.C. location, but it seems not to be centrally located to all the places we want to visit.
  • I donated blood last week. Two benefits of doing so are you get tested and results for covid-antibodies and your cholesterol. For years, I fought high cholesterol numbers. Every time I’d get it tested, at least twice a year, I would let my wife know. I thought she would care, look at it as an opportunity to bond, and I wanted to share a health concern I’ve been battling. She would always comment, usually something generic, like asking if it was better than last time. But one day it hit me, despite me telling her every time I got my lab results for the past 15 years, she never knew what constituted as good or bad cholesterol. Looking back, I’m surprised, but not, that she never took the time to ask or clarify. The worst part is feeling placated. For instance, she used to talk to me about ARDs at the school where she taught. I had no idea what they were, but one time I asked and she explained that “ARD” is an acronym for Admission, Review and Dismissal, and it deals with student eligibility. I asked because I was interested and cared about what was going on in her life. Looking back, I now understand she never took the time to ask because she simply didn’t care. Welp, now I know what to look for in the next relationship.
  • In case you are wondering, my blood is o-positive.
  • Yesterday was Bono’s 62nd birthday. U2 fans mark the occasion by donating money for water wells to be dug in Africa. Yesterday the band announced he’s written a new memoir. I don’t think I’m going to read it, but if the audio book is anything like what’s below I’ll all for what. I really wish the whole thing was animated like this sample. I’d be all over that.

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Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

  • Some days you just want to kick back and crank up some Wilson Phillips to 11.
  • The man who has been mentoring me through my divorce, as he had a similar divorce decades ago, revealed to me he’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Man, bum deal.
  • I think I was the only person in the U.S. not interested in that escaped convict and that law enforcement official he had a relationship with.
  • I think everyone likes that Jake from State Farm guy.
  • Things that are still around that surprise me – Amway, Barbara Eden and Feldon, Bob Barker, Angela Lansbury
  • It will be interesting to see who will win between Trump and DeSantis in the Republican primary.
  • I wish I was appointed ambassador of french fries. I’d start a holy war against tater tots. First, I’d send in the crinkle fries, followed by a battalion of curly fries, and finishing the mission with a regimen of waffle fries. I’d then start diplomacy talks with onion-rings. And later, baked potatoes. But I know my limits. No way am I taking on mashed potatoes.
  • New Poll Shows Texas Republicans Believe Christians, White People Most Discriminated Against
  • Texas National Guard Soldiers Trying to Unionize – When Governor Greg Abbott took immigration policy into his own hands, sending ten thousand troops to the border, not everyone went along.
  • At least East Texas is no longer a major part of my life – A Fundamentalist East Texas Church Bought a Sawmill. Injuries and Child Labor Violations Began to Pile Up.
  • I always wanted to try an open-mic night – Standup comedy course for men at risk of suicide wins NHS funding –  Comedy On Referral will help vulnerable adults in London after successful course in Bristol for trauma survivors
    • Standup comedy is regularly listed as one of the toughest jobs in the world, featuring heavily in 90% of people’s top 10 fears. But a course helping some of the most vulnerable people in the country by teaching them to be comedians is proving so successful that it is being socially prescribed by NHS trusts and private practices across the country.“I’ve taught comedy for 10 years, and students often told me how much stronger, more resilient and happier they were after exploring their personal histories through standup comedy,” said Angie Belcher, founder of Comedy on Referral and comedian-in-residence at Bristol University.“That inspired me to prove that the models, exercises and games used in a standup comedy course can help people to recover from emotional problems such as mental illness, postnatal depression, PTSD and anxiety disorders,” she said.
  • Haley Taylor Schlitz isn’t old enough to buy a beer, but she is set to become Southern Methodist University’s youngest-ever law school graduate, at just 19 years old.
  • Couple live aboard cruise ships after calculating it makes more ‘financial sense’ than a mortgage – After crunching the numbers, the couple, in their 50s, realised they could live the rest of their lives hopping from cruise ship to cruise ship – for as little as $A62 ($43 U.S. dollars) each a day.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 10, 2022