The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for July 2007

It Is Broken Now

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This morning was rougher than I could have anticipated. One of the things about being a parent is that even when you are doing your job well you still have moments where you just feel lost and or upset.

Some of my children’s relatives have decided that the best gift is green in nature. I suppose that one of the benefits of being part of a large and generous family is that in a short time the children have accumulated a nice amount of cash. This provided an opportunity for a good life lesson in which they have begun to learn about the benefits of saving money so that they can buy something nice that they might not otherwise be able to get.

This past weekend my son and I were running errands when he spotted a toy that he really wanted. Initially he asked me if I would buy it for him. I declined to do so and explained that we just didn’t have the extra cash to buy a toy, and besides he has some really nice stuff at home.

He responded by explaining that he thought that he had outgrown some of his toys and that we could give them to charity and that he had his own money. I told him that I thought that this was a very mature way to approach things and that I was agreeable to him getting the toy in this manner.

On a side note, I happened to think that the toy was quite cool. I had something very similar when I was younger and was quite excited at the thought of using it with him.

Anyhoo, we used his funds to buy it and brought it home. From the moment he took it out of the box it became one of his favorite toys and as expected we had a great time playing with it.

Until this morning. That is when the damn thing decided to break. I wasn’t in the room when it happened, but it didn’t take long for me to hear about it. The big boy used the intercom system to call me over to take a look.

It didn’t take more than a moment for me to realize that I probably will not be able to fix this. I won’t be able to forget the look on his face when I told him that it was probably not something I could fix.

It was a combination of shock and disappointment. He was truly surprised that there is something that I can’t do. And I realized that I have really enjoyed being his hero. And while there are any number of good lessons involved in this I have to say that I was surprised at how it affected me.

The time is rapidly approaching when he is going to see that I really am just a person and not the incredible man he thinks I am. Forgive my ego for being a little bruised, I just thought that this would go on a little bit longer.

The Celtics Still Suck

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In theory NBA fans should be pleased to see the hated Celtics gain an opportunity to become a player again. But I just can’t get behind that. All I know is that two of the hated Celtics colluded to make this trade happen. Feh. You can’t tell me that McHale acted in the best interests of his team.

Bill Simmons says as much here:

My NBA guide claims that McHale retired from the Celtics in 1993, but apparently that’s a misprint. How else could you explain his decision to trade Kevin Garnett to Boston for the Al Jefferson pu pu platter deluxe? Just five weeks ago, McHale and Minnesota couldn’t close a potential deal in which they received Jefferson and Boston’s No. 5 pick. Now? They’re settling for Jefferson (a potential franchise player), Ryan Gomes (an intangibles guy who’s useless on a bad team), Bassy Telfair (a year away from signing in Italy), Gerald Green (a homeless man’s J.R. Smith), Theo Ratliff’s expiring deal, a 2009 lottery-protected No. 1 pick (congrats on picking in the mid-20s) and the return of Minny’s future No. 1 that was stupidly included in the Ricky Davis/Mark Blount-Wally Szczerbiak trade.

Does Love Last?

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After I wrote about my grandparents 73rd wedding anniversary I received some feedback from some bloggers who weren’t convinced that people can be madly in love for that long. They said that at some point in time love dies or changes and just becomes friendship.

I haven’t provided a serious response to any of them because I have been trying to decide how I want to approach this topic. Love is a complicated beast and it deserves something more than throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks. At least my initial thought was to try and compose something that was based upon more than just anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

It was a good idea and I even had the beginning of a reference to use. The LA Times is running an article today called This is your brain on love. “When you’re attracted to someone, is your gray matter talking sense — or just hooked? Scientists take a rational look.”

But like so many things in life the plan has changed, courtesy of my BIL whose timing and driving ability are less than impeccable.

So I’ll roll with the punches and ask you a general question:

Does Love Last?

P.S. This will likely be edited or updated so feel free to check back in.

First Update: In A Story of Two Souls I wrote about a couple who fell in both love and lust. So lets add that to the mix. Do love and lust last forever? Can they last forever? It sounds a bit adolescent, but I am curious to hear you thoughts.

A Long Way to Find A Bathroom

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Here is a cheap impression of Paul Harvey. Have you ever heard the expression about being up to your neck in crap?

Climbers and walkers can worry less about eating yellow snow in the French Alps, thanks to the installation of two public toilets on the highest mountain in the range.

Mont Blanc – Europe’s highest mountain – can be saved the nickname of Mont Jaune thanks to the two public toilets that have been set up near the summit of the 4,800 metre high mountain.

The latrines will be the highest in Europe, according to mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains Jean-Marc Peillex, standing, or sitting if you will, at an altitude of 4,260 metres.

“This move was much needed. Our beautiful mountain’s white peak was full of yellow and brown spots in summer. It used to look very dirty and was also wrecking the environment,” the Times of India reported Mr Peillex as lamenting.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Apparently Disney Loves Me

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Not unlike so many other bloggers I know I make no secret of checking my stats. You can find all sorts of interesting information in there. It is fun to see how people find the blog and what they do.

Apparently the Big Mouse loves me because I see Disney in my stats virtually every day. Now if only I could figure out a way to have that translate into free passes to Disneyland. My kids would love it and so would my wallet.

Do you have any idea just how much it costs to take a family of four to Disneyland. It is about $300.00 for admission. Add gas, parking, food and souvenirs and you have dropped a bundle. All for a one day adventure.

Hit By A Sturgeon

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I find this to be pretty funny. Ok, it is probably not all that funny to the people who are being hit, but something about it grabs me. Can you imagine calling your boss to say that you are going to miss work because you were hit by a sturgeon.

It is a brilliant excuse. I’ll post an excerpt from the story. BTW, I love the graphic that says Sturgeon Zone in big red letters. It reminds me of my room in college. I had a sign on the ceiling that said Men At Work. Caught a lot of grief from that one.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Boaters and other watercraft riders are being hit and injured by giant jumping sturgeons at record pace within a 40-mile stretch of water in Florida.

“People and sturgeons are colliding,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission official Karen Parker said.

Sturgeon, which is one of the oldest genera of fish in existence, have been leaping out of the water without warning and striking people.

I’d like to see a newscaster say that with a straight face. I think that my favorite part is where they say that the fish have been doing this without warning. What do they expect. Are the fish supposed to wear a bell or sound some sort of aquatic air horn.