Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

Losing old friends is unfortunately common when you get to my age, leaning.
You still don't get used to it, though. Maybe we're not supposed to get used to it.

My game at the club got cancelled this morning. One guy had to unexpectedly pick up someone at the airport,
and another isn't quite recovered from his grandson's bachelor party. [ Gotta love geriatric juvenile delinquents. At least he had fun. ]

That means that there's no reason for me to be up this early.

A few more winks may be in order.

Retirement is great. You can look forward to it!
 
Good day at school. Let me just say that this group of 7th and 8th graders are as far behind as any group I’ve had in 34 years of teaching. We’ll get them caught up … in Math anyway. But man it’s fun getting to see them light up. Had to discipline one young man … first one this year. Can’t learn if he’s trying to talk while I am.

Haven’t heard how my baseball boys did tonight. The funeral I had to take care of kept me from going with them. Sent my special Gatorade mix with them though. So, since I was home, my wife and I made the 25 mile drive into town to get a galvanized trash can to keep dog food in. My other barrel made out of some kind of paper (I’ve used it for 25 years) has been eaten into by the coons. Went to Chili’s for supper. I can recommend their shrimp tacos if a person wants a change from Chili’s ribs.

Been home watching the “Big Inning” on MLB Network. Some whip-around coverage of big moments in today’s games. On a bright note I discovered that my Cards are just 4.5 back of the second wildcard slot. Hey, it’s something to play for. Stranger things have happened. Bullpen is still terrible. Way too many walks.
 
leaningright said:
On a bright note I discovered that my Cards are just 4.5 back of the second wildcard slot. Hey, it’s something to play for. Stranger things have happened. Bullpen is still terrible. Way too many walks.
Click to expand...

No team is deep, and everybody has at least one glaring deficiency.

My theory: at no time in the history of humans on this planet have THIRTY teams worth of major league quality baseball players walked the earth at once.

But now it's worse.
There are fewer kids playing the game around here than anytime in my memory.
Youth league teams have diminished in number significantly since my son was playing in the 80s and 90s.
African American kids here in the city barely seem to know that the game exists.
Without Latin American and Asian players, MLB rosters would be impossible to fill.

I don't know why. I love the game myself.
I think baseball has too many LEARNED skills for kids today compared to the "attack and defend the goals" sports.
You could be an Olympic decathlete in terms of overall athletic ability and not be able to play baseball a lick
before you put in the work.

I had to almost take out a second mortgage in quarters with the time my boy spent in the cage.
But he hit rope after rope, foul pole to foul pole, and if he could field as well as Charlie Brown's' dog Snoopy, people may have heard of him.
He had a good Little League throwing arm that didn't grow as much as his body, and, like his dad, the defensive range of a mailbox.

I hate to be a "get off my lawn" old grump when it comes to baseball, but old people always complain about new times.
But my early youth goes back to this:

National League
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
NY Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

American League
Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
NY Yankees
Philadelphia A's
St. Louis Browns
Washington Senators

There were plenty of good players for sixteen teams,
and I didn't have to stay up until 2AM to watch a game against the Mariners.
 
I agree with so much of the above but I’ve been saying a variation of what you wrote below for years. Baseball is a smart persons game. Not to say that athletes who participate in other sports aren’t smart but you can take a marginal athlete (especially at the high school level) who knows the game and can think and turn him into a world beater.

NiftyNiblick said:
There are fewer kids playing the game around here than anytime in my memory …

I don't know why. I love the game myself.
I think baseball has too many LEARNED skills for kids today compared to the "attack and defend the goals" sports.
You could be an Olympic decathlete in terms of overall athletic ability and not be able to play baseball a lick
before you put in the work.
Click to expand...

We were rained out today. We were supposed to play a team an hour and a half to our South. Oh well, the rainout gave me the opportunity to watch our girls play. I don’t get to see them play much but take advantage of opportunities to root for them in person. That translates to better rapport in the classroom.
 
Softball is a very interesting game.

Old fat guys play slow pitch and fit young women play fast pitch.

Then they meet in the watering holes, but maybe that's a Boston thing.
 
We love our girls softball in this state. High school, college … Olympics. It’s great. Fun to watch. Slow pitch, not so much though I still go to the games and support our girls. They are forced to play slow pitch in the Spring. It’s something that is somehow beneficial to large schools but I hate it for our kids because many of them dislike playing it. Here’s a link to the little league team we’re rooting for. They’re about an hour or so to our North.

https://www.newson6.com/story/611b0...streak-in-little-league-softball-world-series

Good practice today. I also repaired our scoreboard ahead of our first home game on Friday. “Ball 1” wouldn’t light up. I borrowed a ladder from our Science teacher and got up to it, figuring to see what kind of bulb had burned out. The light was on a printed circuit, a bunch of LED things clusters on the board. The plastic nuts had deteriorated and the board/light had fallen down into the scoreboard. I got it out, put some new nuts on it and we’re good as new.

Have varsity/JV matchups the next two days, both with larger schools. First state rankings come out next week.

After church tonight I’m looking forward to finding a close game on MLB and reclining for a while.

I played some of that old man softball because it was fun to play. I hated watching it when we had to wait between games. I played until I was 45. Sad thing is I could run the bases faster at 30 than I could at 17. Go figure. Could be that 20 pounds I lost between one age and the other. ;)
 
I forget if it was 1965 or 1966. No, now I remember it was the latter. The new Astroturf was in. First on the East Coast.

In college coed intramural softball, a strictly unsanctioned beer league,
our second base person almost had her head knocked off by a line drive.

The guy who hit it was a 6' 5" lefty male first baseman. [I'll guess struggling to maintaining a 2.0 to not get drafted into the military. No Einstein, this kid.]

She was rolling a joint with her head down and her glove held between her knees. [No Einstein either.]
To her credit, she had her joint lit and her glove on in time to take the relay from right.

I was so impressed that I asked her out, but she was already sleeping with somebody at the time.
Probably for the best.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Now that virtually all the Republican controlled state legislatures, with the complete blessing of our pig shit constitution,
are dismantling the democratic republic of the United States of America by taking over complete control of who votes
and whose ballots get counted,

storming the capitol should no longer be necessary.


They have discovered how unnecessary it was to start the previous civil war by firing on Fort Sumter.
They could have just stayed home and done it in a perfectly constitutionally compliant way.

Rural Christian conservatives are able to destroy the republic as a minority
because the genius founders provided them the right to do it.

What's worse, the confederates are not merely seeking separation anymore.
Now, they want to take over the whole thing.
That, however, they can only do with our help.
Blue States have legislatures as well. Also, a fuck of a lot more money.

Civilized progressive liberals have got to wake up.
We no longer have the luxury of believing in the idyllic America that we were told about by clueless grade school teachers.
It was a nice thought, but it was total bullshit. We should be easily able to see that now.

There are people in the middle of this country who hate us,
who hate our modern and humane ideas,
who worship a magic man in the sky,
and who believe that the magic man wants them in charge.
They have lots of guns.
They have no brains whatsoever.

The centrists and fence-sitters among us are not neutral;
they're clearly on the side of the shitkicker crackers.
They're all Joe Manchin without the expensive haircuts that they wouldn't be able to get back in their home states such as West Virginia.

So now, non-devolved, still with functioning brains humans, what do you plan to do about it?
You're not all pushing seventy-five.
Most of you will have to be here for a long, long time.
Do you wish to live like a human being,
or like a devolved mutant trumpanzee?

I have been the only contributor on this forum to remind you of what should have been obvious.

We have radical problems,
and there are NO moderate solutions to radical problems.

You can continue to be panty-waists fellating your precious constitution,
or you can decide that you'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES
to not live like some drooling cracker like the ones you've met here at JPP.
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Actually repuke so-called state legislatures should assume being in conspiracy with tRump at inciting insurrection against the U.S.; mobilizing their gutter hides to wage war on the legitimate and Constitutionally complaint 2020 electoral process and of course following the sewer creature tRump's lead at further the spread of his covid-19 pestilence upon society and elsewhere, etc. Completely un American.
 
It's raining here. Not to heavily to play if I were really determined.
But when the course is wet, you have to keeps the carts on the cart paths,
and that's seriously a pain in the ass.

You may as well be walking like some fifty year old kid thinking he can actually stay fit.
Finding out is immediately imminent for those guys. I've obviously been there.
They'll all be riding next year.
 
I walk or ride depending on who I’m with … but I am that 50 something (55) year old kid right now. ;)

Got another good win tonight against a larger school. One of our sore armed pitchers pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief. It’s the best he’s pitched in a season and a half. He said he felt great and it’s been a season and a half since I heard that from him.

Our JV smacked theirs around as well in a 3 inning affair that ended with us 9 and them 0.

I’ll miss tomorrow’s game because I have to visit the family of my friend who died. I have to prepare to conduct his memorial service on Saturday.

Once I get this weekend over with maybe I can really enjoy our season. We have a legitimate shot at making some noise in our class when the playoffs start in October.
 
Too bad you're from Oklahoma, Leaning.
If you were from Boston, it's obvious that you would have made an outstanding Jesuit!
[Probably a different political registration as well.]

You seem to be doing just fine as it is, though.
Family, education, faith, golf, and baseball.
I've got four out of five, but our man Leaning seems to have them all!
Keep up the good work.
 
Been a rough couple of days. Been spending time with my friend’s family and compiling information to speak at his memorial service today. Got it done though and made it through.

My friend had family from California to Florida and from North Dakota to Texas. It is really amazing that in a little town like ours we are able to broadcast the service live to everyone who wanted to see it. There were those who wanted to drive to the church building and hear the service and then see family … and we were able to accommodate them as well.

Ready now for some normalcy as we enter my favorite time of year. Baseball on the ball fields, hunting game in the woods and the boys of fall on the gridiron. Bring it on.

But I’m ready for a nap right now.
 
Getting through rough patches is tough but we get through them nonetheless.

I'm going through a smooth patch.

Our dishwasher broke down.

I cook. My wife cleans up.
But not without a dishwasher.

The new one will be delivered and installed in a few days, but meanwhile, I'm on reprieve from cooking.
Time to give local restaurants a bit of patronage.

But I do have to replace a few ceiling tiles in my mancave.
The old dishwasher couldn't afford me a mini-vacation without breaking my balls just a little bit as well.
That's just how things work.
 
Yep, life is about ups and downs. Broken dishwashers … or refrigerators or freezers … and all.

I cook a lot here. Being semi-retired and not working for the two and a half months of summer, I’m home more than my wife. It works for us. But enjoy the restaurants for a while. We took my son into town to eat at Roma’s yesterday evening, his favorite local Italian place. Had to show him we still like him even though he’s out of the house for the most part.

My weekend is drawing to a close but I’m hoping next week will bring an opportunity for 18 holes. Maybe Friday. Have baseball games that we’ll probably lose tomorrow. Then one we should win on Tuesday and then a real test in our class on Thursday.

Our Ag teacher is out with the stupid COVID. He’s compromised as well as he just finished chemo treatments for appendix cancer. He’s a good guy. I teach his daughter in 7th grade math. Man I wish we could wear that stuff out for good.

My Cards gave me hope creeping up in the wildcard race then dashed them all over the rocks. From 3 games back to 4.5 games back last week and showing no signs of improving. Oh well, I could be an Indians fan.
 
leaningright said:
Yep, life is about ups and downs. Broken dishwashers … or refrigerators or freezers … and all.

I cook a lot here. Being semi-retired and not working for the two and a half months of summer, I’m home more than my wife. It works for us. But enjoy the restaurants for a while. We took my son into town to eat at Roma’s yesterday evening, his favorite local Italian place. Had to show him we still like him even though he’s out of the house for the most part.

My weekend is drawing to a close but I’m hoping next week will bring an opportunity for 18 holes. Maybe Friday. Have baseball games that we’ll probably lose tomorrow. Then one we should win on Tuesday and then a real test in our class on Thursday.

Our Ag teacher is out with the stupid COVID. He’s compromised as well as he just finished chemo treatments for appendix cancer. He’s a good guy. I teach his daughter in 7th grade math. Man I wish we could wear that stuff out for good.

My Cards gave me hope creeping up in the wildcard race then dashed them all over the rocks. From 3 games back to 4.5 games back last week and showing no signs of improving. Oh well, I could be an Indians fan.
Click to expand...

Or even worse, a "Guardians" fan.
These people have me scratching my head.

I hope that your colleague comes through OK.
 
I haven't been following the storm, but there' no hurricane in Boston yet.
I think that once a town installs enough natural gas powered electric generators, the big storms don't find it fun to hit them anymore.
 
Great classes today. Kids are starting to get some stuff they they missed in earlier grades and are beginning to see the need to catch up. Lightbulbs are popping all over the room. Got two kids out for Covid protocol. I’ll record and upload them an instructional video to my YouTube channel and they should be OK. Both are bright students.

Today’s games wen about like I figured. We got pretty much shellacked in both the Varsity and the JV games. On a bright note we were competitive for 4 of the 7 innings but they just had too much firepower.

Oh, rankings came out today. We are ranked 10th in the state in our class. We play the 13th ranked team tomorrow and really need to put them away.

Have a doctors appointment in the morning. Quarterly checkup on heart and diabetes. So far I’ve been good at evading those problems but they keep a close watch on me because of my family history. Native Americans are prone to diabetes … probably because we are created to be active and many of us are not.
 
I get quarterly checkups too. Quarterly bloodwork as well.

If I were a building, I'd be condemned, probably.

In terms of attention to health and physical fitness, I was a different human being pre and post military service. [Not sure why.]
I went from roadwork and sparring [despite the nightlife inclinations as a youth] to refrigerators and recliners.
Can't even play golf riding a cart if it's pouring like it is now.
[That's why I'm up so early. I was supposed to have a game.]

No regrets, though. Like everybody else, I didn't draw my own blueprint.
Perhaps as loving as they were, mom and dad weren't great breeding material!

Baseball teams have to play who's on the schedule, big schools or small.
If you love to play, you'll do your best regardless.
I don't like to turn games into a character issue. Too many people do that, although less so in my part of the country.
If you love to play, you leave it all out on the field because that's the only way that the game is really fun.

I'm sure that your kids love to play. They're supported and cared for.
 
Well, it’s 10:30 and I just got home. The game didn’t go as we’d hoped. Got beat 6-3. It was a good, clean game. We had one error in the first that didn’t cost us a run and that was it. We gave up the lead when our pitcher hit the 8 and 9 hole in the bottom of the fifth, then gave up a bloop single over 2nd. We tied it up in our half of the 6th but gave up 3 in the bottom. Hit two hard shots in the 7th but right at them. Flew out to right for the final out. We have to get a few timely hits with runners in scoring position. We left 10 on base.

Doctor’s appointment went good. Numbers are still in check. They gave me my second Shingles vaccine and my second Hepatitis B vaccine.

Gonna sit here until 11, take a couple of Tylenol and hit the sack.
 
Yesterday I had a game and it got rained out.
This morning is beautiful with no round planned.

I could probably have found a game at the club easy enough,
but our son dropped by early with donuts and I got derailed.

That's exactly what I needed. I should have sent a video to impress my doc.
I'm sure that I can make her scream at me even louder.

Hope y'all slept better than I did last night.
It must have been close to two before I finally went under.
Don't know why.
Nothing special on my mind and I felt OK.
Just one of those things.
 
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