BagOfNothing.com

• Yesterday morning around 8:00 AM, I heard someone knocking at my door. To my surprise, it was my ex and our daughter. School has already started where my ex works and daughter attends. In short, my ex was having trouble convincing my daughter to go to school. A similar problem happened the previous week. I invited them inside and we all had a talk. At first, all together, then separately. I asked my ex what does she want or expect of me right now. She stated she wanted me to back her up when it comes to discipline and wondered if I ran into any behavioral problems when I have possession of the kids. For the most part, I don’t. There’s the occasional brother and sister squabble, and they get up and going immediately after I wake them. I followed up by stating I want to back her up and be on the same page parentally, but right now she’s taking me to court to change the divorce decree to limit the time I can speak with the children on my non-possession days, and I don’t know if her true intentions are in the best interest of our children. It’s awkward backing up the other parent when they are taking you to court and then walk into your house asking you to help to convince your daughter to go to school. When I mentioned she was the same woman who divorced me because she thought I was a danger to my own children, she explained that was over a year ago and she’s moved on.
• I wish she would agree to go to see a counselor together, not to reconcile, but to be better divorced parents. But, she won’t have anything of it.
• Update: Last night we found out, and I’m trying to put this as delicately as possible, but our daughter is being challenged with some negative thoughts which makes her question how valuable she is to the world. I know I’m not the only parent that has gone through this challenge, so those of you who have, you know what to pray for. Few things are worse than being legally and physically separated from a child that you just want to wrap up in your arms, kiss them on the forehead, and to remind them they are loved.
• My life is so different from it was a little over a year ago. I did not know it could change so quickly and drastically.
• University of Texas student wins final round of ‘Jeopardy!’ college championship, takes home $250K
• 8 Austin police officers charged after investigation into 2020 George Floyd protests are released on $1 bond, lawyers say
• How one Dallas store owner illegally blocked her employees’ calls
  • Cellular signal jammers are illegal, but one Dallas store owner decided to use one anyway. Her apparent goal? To stop her employees from wasting time on their phones.
• Somebody really takes the time to scan a series of photos.

Putin convened an unscheduled meeting with his Security Council in Moscow on Monday. The meeting was broadcast at 5 pm. But what time was it really held? Let's look at some participants' watches. Sergei Shoigu & Sergei Lavrov prep at 11:45. #OSINT #UkraineRussia #Russia #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/YlnLodkjdq

— Forrest Rogers (@Forrest_Rogers) February 22, 2022

• Man, there are sure a lot of 2’s in today’s date – 02/22/2022
• Someone I never met told me yesterday that I was a good dude. I’m not sure of that person’s qualifications to make such a statement, but it was something I needed to hear.
• LBJ feared dying alone. I’ve read that in several places and saw it on a CNN special last night. I also fear the same. I’m glad I was by the bedside of both my parents. Otherwise, they may have died alone.
• Parenting was a lot more fun when it was only with the person I married. Now, I feel like I parent equally alongside her, her mother, and her lawyer.
• There’s no telling what companies like Twitter and Facebook do with your information. There’s no telling what Donald Trump’s new social media company will do with your information.
• I never thought something like Wordle would be a highlight of my day.
• Texas tops the nation in teens who give birth multiple times
  • While teenage birth rates have declined significantly across the country in recent decades, Texas remains above the national average, consistently ranking in the top 10 states. Out of all births in Texas, around 6% were teen births in 2019 and 2020. And a startling proportion of teenagers who gave birth in Texas in 2020 — more than 1 in 6 — already had at least one other child.
• Iranian prisoner dies of ‘joy’ after death penalty abolished
• Florida worker dies after being run over by street sweeper
• And to think I get upset at folks who don’t return their shopping cart – Boston man stabbed for not flushing toilet at MBTA station, police say
• Cute headline, but the visual is actually pretty under-whelming – Deaf dog saved from euthanasia drives around Daytona Speedway

https://twitter.com/just_awesome25/status/1495720272124596228

• I can’t recall the last time I used or even seen an iced tea spoon. Over the years, I’ve stopped putting any sugar or sweetener in my tea and haven’t had the need for one, but then again, I’d usually use my straw to stir it.
• The new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is out. I like the show, but I think I really enjoyed watching it with my ex because it brought joy to me to see how she reacted to certain scenes. I’m debating on watching the new season. Anything I do, I want to do for myself as I work on Keith 2.0.
• Family movie nights with the kids are fun. But the new normal means there will only be three of us instead of what was the usual four. There’s still that element of “something’s missing” when we watch movies together. It’s all part of acceptance and yielding.
• A part of rebuilding and rediscovering myself is to figure out what are things that make me happy. So, I asked my kids, and they both quickly and at the same time said, “Hugs.” Then one of them added, “Hugs from us, specifically.”
• How on Earth did Texas not be the first state to institute this law? Tennessee bill would designate some gun owners as law enforcement.
• I’m sure everyone saw this story yesterday – Olympics – Cross-country skiing – Finn Remi suffers frozen penis in mass start race
  • Lindholm explained that he used a heat pack to try to thaw out his appendage once the race was over. “When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable,” he added.
• I never knew Michael Jordan shattered a backboard during a game until I saw a GIF of it yesterday. But it threw me off because he was wearing an orange jersey. Interestingly, it happened when he played for an Italian club, which I did not know he did.
  • The game was Jordan’s only appearance for Italian club Stefanel Trieste. Playing against Juve Caserta, Jordan scored 30 points for his one-night club. And he left the gym a bit of a mess: Late in the game, driving to the basket, Jordan broke the backboard with an impressive one-handed dunk. The glass shattered, showering players with glass. It was quite a scene.
• Speaking of Jordan, it surprised me how he specifically sought our very own Luka Doncic at yesterday’s All Star Game and gave him some love. If that’s not making it or achieving a high level expect, I don’t know what is.
• New NCAA baseball rule – The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday approved allowing the use of one-way electronic communication devices for the purpose of calling pitches and plays. 
  • Examples of what could be implemented next season include teams being allowed to use an electronic display board from the dugout that shows a numerical code to call pitches and/or defensive plays. Teams also can use a one-way in-ear communication device that would be limited for use from the dugout to the catcher.
• There’s an Arkansas or East Texas joke in here somewhere – We’re sisters and our sons are brothers, cousins and twins
  
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• This guy is having a bad day.
  

Incredible pic.twitter.com/L1nxBTiSOD

— Science Club (@scienceClub01) February 20, 2022

The immaculate reception might honestly be a Top 5 play in sports history. This view of it is wild

(h/t @highlghtheaven) pic.twitter.com/hUCqp5rsTk

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 19, 2022

• You can’t get any more right-wing than that. She’s even showered in red. At least she put Jesus ahead of Guns. Though, I expect the order is different in her heart.
• Jamaica has a four-man bobsled team back at the Olympics for the first time in 24 years.
• I always thought certain fast-food establishment’s soft drinks tasted better than others. – The Real Reason McDonald’s Sprite Tastes Different
  • McDonald’s uses a high syrup-to-carbonated water ratio, which results in a sweeter and stronger version of the drink than can be had at other fast-food restaurants or that is found in cans and bottles. McDonald’s also uses high-end filtration systems to filter its water so that the Sprite concentrate isn’t just being mixed with sparkling water from the tap — it’s being mixed with bottled water-quality water, with no impurities that could affect the taste. The company claims to filter its water twice as much as its competitors.
• One thing I miss about parenting with a spouse is talking through stuff like all the current news about book banning. It would be great to know her thoughts and see where we are alike or differ. But, not only is she not having any of that kind of talk. Anything I say would eventually come back to haunt me, most likely misquoted and from her lawyer.
• Not that divorced parents compete with each other when it comes to gifting birthday presents, but it sure does feel good when your son tells you his two presents were the best of the bunch. What’s better is that both of them didn’t cost me more than eight bucks. Both of them were magic tricks. One, a pair of double-sided quarters and a trick deck of cards in which you can tell the card from the back. He had a blast performing tricks at school the next day.
• There’s going to be a three night Doris Kearns Goodwin Lincoln special this weekend on the History channel. Unfortunately, I’m a YouTube TV subscriber and the channel isn’t part of my package.
• Her eyes freak me out – Mom decapitates 6-year-old son and dog, claims the devil was speaking to her, police say
  
• I haven’t found one person who had a positive comment to say about this Nicole Kidman cover. One of my friends is certain the 54-year-old has had plastic surgery. I’m bad at being able to spot those things.
  
• This is some cool footage.

https://twitter.com/JoePompliano/status/1494112292010659840