Bag of Randomness for Thursday, September 21, 2017

  • Long before I became a parent there were certain things I claimed I’d never do. Then I became a parent and found some things are beyond my control and learned to compromise on a few a things. Well, it’s about to happen again. I vowed to never coach any of my children’s sports team; however, due to the lack of volunteers and loving encouragement from both kids, I’ll be coaching BoyGeeding’s flag football team.
    • I often complement WifeGeeding when it comes to her patience and understanding with kids and marvel at how she’s able to remain calm with kindergarten and pre-school children. I’ve told her plenty of times I’m not wired like her and simply can’t be in that environment for long. Now, I’m coaching four and five-year-olds. Lord, help me, for I know not what I got myself into.
    • Trying to make the most of it, I decided to call my friend, Jimi, and he agreed to coach the team along with me. As long-time readers know, I’ve been friends with Jimi since kindergarten and roomed with him in college and when we first moved to DFW. Jimi and I were also on the same pee-wee football team. Sometimes we reflect upon that time in our lives and how that was the first team either of us was ever on in any sport. We like to talk about our very first coach and how he taught us a fun little cheer, and now we force that cheer in many conversations. Now, we will be the very first coach for many of these kids and who knows if any of them will keep in touch when they turn into adults.
    • Jimi and I have fond memories of where our games were played, the Optimus Field. All the stickers, hard dry grass and mostly dirt, and holes in the field hurt like hell but made for good memories.
    • If I’m doing this coaching thing, I want to do it right so I’ve been searching online for some of those Bike coaching shorts which leave nothing to the imagination. So far, no luck. Maybe I can pull off the look of the coach in the top picture of this post.
    • Longtime readers also know my oldest child is named after my friend who was going to be the best man at my wedding. Sadly he died a week before the wedding. He was an exceptional coach, and very much like my wife when it comes to kids. He was extremely kind and patient and never raised his voice in anger as a teacher or coach. I maintain a close relationship with his mother. I called her up this week asking if she had one of his old coaching whistles and if I could use it if she was okay with it. I think it will arrive in my mailbox tomorrow.
  • One of you made a great point about how great it is to drive to an out of town football game and eating at a local establishment. It was always neat to experience something different than what’s in your small town and to see who else from your hometown might stop there.
  • While it’s not-NSFW, use some caution – This Mom’s Inspiring Photoshoot Sends A Powerful Message To Women Who Can’t Breastfeed
  • I had some free time in my schedule and decided to eat lunch at BoyGeeding and DaughterGeeding’s school. They told me lunchtime was strict but I thought that was just an exaggeration, but their lunchtime is very strict. For the first 15-minutes they are not allowed to talk, that’s the time for them to get their food out and eat, and they really aren’t lenient. During this time, if they need something, they use one of the hand signals below. Then I think they are allowed five minutes of talk time and then ten minutes of cleanup time.
  • Genius Teacher’s ‘Bread Trick’ Shows Kids Why They Need To Wash Hands, And It’s Disgustingly Brilliant
    • Donna Gill Allen, a Health Occupation teacher at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, presented her class with 3 slices of bread. They placed one in a plastic baggy using gloves, the other with freshly washed hands, and sealed up the final one after passing it around to every student in the room – therefore making it ‘dirty.’ When the students came back to check on the bread a few days later, the evidence was more than clear.
  • I didn’t know local Gateway Church was the fourth largest church in America. It looks like they are going through some changes:
    • I was first to report that Gateway Church planned to lay off as many as one-third of their staff and that the church was deep in debt. Gateway called this a “pruning” in preparation for growth.
    • Pastor Robert Morris appears to be differentiating himself from Gateway’s brand. He is populating a slick website — pastorrobert.com — and is doing the same with his sermons on a separate Youtube channel. He also has a new radio brand with the Worship & the Word with Pastor Robert Morris product.
  • This story is a little old but the headline cracks me up – Here’s 45 Guys Dressed Like Tom Selleck as “Magnum, P.I.” Getting Kicked Out of a Tigers Game
  • HGTV was the third-most-popular network on cable television in 2016
    • I’m annoyed when an article will throw out such a statistic but won’t provide who the top two are.
  • Ken Burns’ ‘The Vietnam War’ is 18-hours long. Since 95% of all pilots who flew helicopters in Vietnam trained at Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, I wonder if it gets at least one mention. If y0u are affiliated with Mineral Wells in any way, that link is worth a click if you want to see old Army footage of Fort Wolters.
  • U.S. Navy swapping $38,000 periscope joysticks for $30 Xbox controllers on high-tech submarines
  • A few more thoughts and tidbits from my book about the relationships amongst presidents:
    • I’m surprised but not surprised at how often Billy Graham is referenced with each president. I mean, I’ve read enough about Graham and the presidents to know how close he was to most of them, but not in the detail the book provides.
      • Billy Graham who was in New York at the time when Nixon suffered a stroke, where the former president was residing. He called the White House when he heard the news and got President Clinton on the phone and ask the president which hospital Nixon was in so he could visit. Clinton didn’t immediately know but called Graham back a few minutes later with the details. Graham was at Nixon’s bedside praying with Nixon’s daughters and I believe he was there when Nixon eventually died.
      • Clinton and Graham’s friendship goes back to 1989 when Clinton was Governor of Arkansas. They had a mutual friend who was dying and met in the hospital and carried on a relationship.
      • When Nixon died, Graham and Clinton spoke on the phone. Clinton wanted to attend Nixon’s funeral and asked Graham if he could get Julia and Tricia’s permission, which was granted. Later, the Nixon daughters formally invited Clinton who offered a state funeral. However, Nixon made it clear he just wanted to lie in repose at his library in Yorba Linda.
Posted in Personal | 6 Comments