As an old say goes

"My favorite teams in baseball are the White Sox and whom ever is playing the Cubs"

It's a bonus when the Sox win and the Cubs lose.

It's an even BIGGER bonus when the Sox win and the Cubs lose...

... at the hands of the Sox!

My nickel's worth...

I wasn't really sure which way to go on the title line since with inflation, two cents worth is more like a dime, but with the economy maybe it's more like a nickel?

I don't know...

So is anyone worried yet about the swine flu other than the media... a.k.a. the panic/fear mongers? Obviously if we choose to ignore it, it doesn't mean it will go away. BUT... in the grand scale of the world's population, the number or reported cases and related deaths are low. More people die from... and I'm stealing a line from Jon Stewart... the bullet flu.

Today's big story is that the U.S. recorded it's first death related to swine flu down in Texas. While sad that it was a 23 month old boy, the child was Mexican whose parents (or whomever) came here seeking treatment... a little too late I'd say. While this is tragic, I don't think it qualifies for the first death recorded here... but it causes me to pause and ponder.

So... if a man is standing on the Mexican/U.S. border or the Canadian/U.S. border and is shot... wait, maybe that's not a good analogy. How about this... if a man it shot in Mexico or Canada and staggers over the border into the U.S. it's counted as a U.S. death? What if the man crosses the border and once on U.S. soil a bullet is fired from across the border and kills him... is this counted as a U.S. death? For my money, if that man was a U.S. citizen than yes... it's a U.S. death. I know pointless nonsense really.

Anyway, now we've created panic in people who just might have the "regular" flu... that is to say that if anyone experiences any flu like symptoms... now especially... they will make a dash for the local hospital. A question kinda begs to be asked here. Without all the press this is getting and all the momentum, if you were feeling like you had the flu, would you go in, or is it more likely with this being all over the news that you will now... thus boosting the number of reported cases which in turn creates more panic and so on? You can see how this is... in a sense... a self perpetuated panic.

Common sense mandates that you should wash your hands before eating and take (in some ways) the same precautions that dictate normal hygiene habits. Right???

Oh wait... therein lies the problem... counting on common sense as your guide.

Non Polish polls...

Just needed to comment on a silly poll I saw. I've seen many silly polls and never took the time to comment on the absurdity of them. This poll was on weather.com, it was a poll about the weather... I know shocking that the poll was about weather on a weather website. So the question was this...

What part of your everyday style depends most on the weather?

I guess the question itself (or more specifically a particular word itself) made me laugh a little... "style". My "style" these days consists of making sure all body parts that should be covered are in fact covered and the kids look only fairly representable and somewhat kempt should they be accompanying me.

Back to this particular poll...

So the answers you had to choose from were as follows

Shoes

Hair

Jacket

Makeup

Fragrance

Shoes... yes, I have some on.

Hair... a moot point since me head's buzzed to a fine velvety sheen.

Jacket... Only if needed.

Makeup... next.

Fragrance... does the scent of a one day old shower tell you anything?

So anyway the results (as of my writing this) had jacket leading the way with 57.8%. Followed by shoes 25.5% and hair at 13.9%.Makeup scored 1.14% and fragrance scored 1.49%.

So if it's going to be too hot, then skip the makeup for fear of it melting? Or too cold for fear of it cracking? Again, if it's too hot, then you don't want anything on (scent wise) that had the potential to break bad on you should you be a sweaty type person.

I think I'd like to meet the person(s) that answered makeup and or fragrance and see if they live in the real world. For the record, I answered jacket simply because... and read this aloud in your best Thurston Howell... because who'd dare wear cashmere lovie when it's hot and humid in August or July?

Until the next wave of stupidy overtakes me...

Meringue Brain

That's what I've got... self diagnosed.

I don't suspect many (if anyone) will read this other than me.  Hell, I don't even know if it's going to have any real continuity to it either.  My brain is not of much substance lately... hence the meringue analogy.

Try as I might to focus on the good things in my life, I'm left with images shrouded in fog.  I understand and believe (to a point) the power of positive thinking, but if my thinking output were a number line -10 to 0 to 10... I'm kinda sitting in the -1 to 1 range.  I'm trying like hell to not let myself slip any further down the negative side of the number line, but I find it much easier to go there than to the positive side... and it's killing me inside.  I mean I realize that it's better to focus my energy on thinking good things rather than bad ones, but it seems grossly unfair that it's so much easier to go to the dark side... to slip to the -10 end of the number line.

I don't even know if blogging is therapeutic anymore.  I suppose/suspect at some level it is, but I don't feel any real sense of relief.  I guess I just need to skim off some the meringue from the top to keep a little space in there to help me to think.  

The news we received about Emmah was NOT what we wanted and something I was hoping to not have to experience again.  But here we are nonetheless.  Not that this is easy at any level, but compounding things is the fact that I/we have five other kids that depend and need us.  So it's a stiff upper lip and try to keep things business as usual.  To be honest, it's agonizing!  Almost Jekyll and Hyde-ish trying to keep one from showing over the other.  

I know what is said... that God never gives us more than we can handle.  I'm seriously questioning his judgement right about now.  If he's looking for a breaking point, he need look no further... I have arrived!

I can see why people start drinking... 

Heavily 

Do you really need the 12 gifts in the 12 days of Christmas?

To answer that question, first I needed to know the cost of it all... this post is a continuation of another post that was posted on the main page and I felt it not exactly fitting to continue it there, so here it is here.

So I've decided to look over the list and see where (if it were being offered to me) I could cut back and save some coinage. Okay, first off... no dudes for gifts. So the Lords A-Leaping... out. Presuming that the twelve drummers drumming are men (nothing against women drummers) but in most depictions it is portrayed as men drummers. So the Drummers Drumming... out. Same to be said regarding the pipers... depicted as men. So the Pipers Piping... out. Okay then... that takes care of $9,045.

Now about all those birds... the swans, the geese, the calling birds, the hens, the turtle doves and lastly the partridge. Who needs that many birds? I mean really... unless of course you're going to make a toasty down coat or something. Otherwise it's the upkeep that will kill you... all that extra expense of caring for that flock of 23 birds. I'm not running an aviary... an orphanage perhaps, but not an aviary.

So what does that leave? The tree... for me, that's a keeper. Perhaps not a pear tree though... $200 is a bit steep. Then of course the ladies dancing and then those milking maids, which for the money... I'll take those Maids A-Milking over those Ladies Dancing.

Two reasons... okay three.

1. Eight maids vs nine ladies. Eight is one less than nine and that means on less nagger.
2. One out of the eight is bound to be good looking and lets face it... maids that milk is like music to a guys ears.
3. Lastly... the eight maids come with a price tag that's $4,707 cheaper than those ladies.
   

Oh yeah... those five golden rings. I'm thinking that I might keep them. Never know when one might need some appeasement for one of those maids.

Okay... enough of that.