Looking for some electricity

Good morning and greetings from Starbucks. It is day 3 without power and I am starting to lose my cool, calm demeanor. I had to throw out the food in the two refrigerators (a first world problem...no complaints, but sadness as to how much food was wasted). Thinking the power would return, I thought the freezer's food was safe. Guess what I found on the floor yesterday afternoon? Yep, the ice melted with the ice cream and seeped through the door and onto the floor. Clean up on Aisle 5!



Nights have been toasty without air conditioning. However, I am not complaining. This is not a horrible problem. True, it is warm, yet, I have decided that I am camping inside the house. So, no complaints. I have had family and friends offer me a shower (is that a hint?) and a bedroom, but I am gutting it out.


Yet, I do miss a few things such as warm showers....

Internet.....

The ability to see in my closet after 6 pm.....

A cold glass of water.....

A peaceful night's sleep....huh? Yep, my neighbor has an industrial size generator that sounds like a loud lawnmower....VRROOOOMMMMM....all day...all night......24/7.....Plus he is not home! He is at the shore!!!!


That's it.

I do not miss television at all. This was somewhat shocking. I do miss the news but I can catch up during my Starbucks wifi sessions. I guess I could also go to panera since they have free wifi.


There are other problems here. Trees were blown over and roads are blocked. The tree surgeons and landscapers cannot get to all of them. With the road closures and power outages, it has been a challenge to run errands since the traffic crawls.



And so, that is my saga....no big deal....just three plus days without power and I am hoping that some Good Samaritan finds a PECO truck technician, flips him a $20.00 on my behalf and points him to my neighborhood.

 My composure is beginning to melt.....



Peace!

Did Diddy do it?

Yikes! I cannot help but say "yikes!' today as I read about Sean "P Diddy Combs" who was arrested yesterday for aggravated assault. He attacked a strength and training (ST) coach at his son's school UCLA. Yikes!



Here is a link of the activity. 

This poses a question for all of us who have witnessed the strength and training coaches abuse their athletes.....Are they really abusing them? Or is it our perception that they are abusing them?

If you are a regular reader, you know that the ST coach has all but destroyed my son's body and spirit. He and his posse were devising creative ways to 'pay back' the ST coach's kindness. In other words, he was hated by one and all.


The question that has to be answered is complicated by the fact that we are not there all of the time. We hear what the kids have to say. We listen to their moans and complaints. Then what do we do as parents and friends? Well, the answer is that we want to 'take them down.' But clearer heads have to prevail and we know that this will pass and we are not to involve ourselves with a young adult's life unless he or she cannot handle the pressures or are in danger.

The Czar did chide my kid about his parents flying in to save him whenever there was a problem. Yep, that's me. A helicopter parent who wishes that she had a helicopter on the days when I had to drive to campus to calm my son after his life was threatened or told that the world would be a better place if he slit his wrists and died. Yep, watch my propeller spin.



Diddy, on the other hand, actually picked up a kettle bell (heavy) and seemed as if he would use it to smash the coach's head. Therefore, the thug was arrested.

My take on it is.......

Yes, would I like to use a kettle bell? Sure, to work on my core. I never thought of it as a weapon. However, this is Diddy's son who has to work through this process. His poppa cannot run to his defense with a kettle bell or hula hoop. This is the athlete's work and not his.

Diddy, you have to chill. Sure, is the ST coach wrong? perhaps...perhaps.....perhaps not....however, you have to let your kid grow up and take care of his troubles. After the strength and training session, you can buy him a life time supply of ibuprofen and Epson salts. Until then, put down the kettle bell unless you are working out.

peace!

Forget about pay back

Good morning! I am so sorry for the lack of posts but I was in Atlanta last week for a conference and was in the Marriott for what seems like days. I am not a big fan of these national conferences although seeing some of the top professionals in my field is pretty cool. I sat with one of my heroes last week at a reception who at 80 sat in her chair drinking bourbon and made me laugh. I have to say that even a sip of bourbon would knock me into a stupor and under the table.  After the Phils won the World Series one year, I went out with a few friends. One girl, whose family owned a bar, pounded the drinks one after one. I believe that she had 5 drinks before I took a sip of my first one. I have not seen her since she got out of rehab......

On another note, the big kid continues his treks to Jersey to align his body. His hips are still not ready for pitching but his shoulders are back in alignment. That's right. His body was lopsided for a while as one side was higher than the other. Every now and then he would get angry especially when he saw the kids who were drafted earlier this month.

"I struck that guy out."

anyone afraid of Serena after seeing what she can do to a racquet?

"I owned that kid."

"That guy stinks."

"If the school did not mess me up, I would have been there too."

Then he gets salty: "I will take the university down for injuring me. They will never be the same...." and so on and so on and so on....

I continue to tell him: "Leave it. You're done with them and will be better than ever."



He continues to rant.....

Then it comes to me....

"Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord."  I kind of hope that this is a real Bible quote (After all , I work in an evangelical setting). And so, to be accurate in today's post, I googled (what other Bible scholar does this?) and found the following:


Forgiveness
…18If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. 20"BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."…

Yep. Out of the Bible. So, let's let the anger go, since he is better off since he has left school. AND his body is being prepared to throw mid-90's. Don't you think that all of this craziness happened for a reason? I do.

Honestly, let's look back.....


Fade to black.....

If he had an easy time of it all, he would never have had the drive to push and train and work out with the pros. Nope. He would have been complacent and been satisfied with his God given abilities. Like Lone Wolf...he was an amazing pitcher who did not train and was not committed to his game. He is working in California at a desk job now.


Having adversity made the big lefty stronger and more hungry. After all, he does have the talent, but the school's coaches and trainers were not going to get him to the point of being part of the draft. So, be it.



After training with the Pitching doc, working out with Yoda, and having the best medical attention in the country, he is ready to take a shot at the Bigs.



Consider this....he will go to Seattle in August. By that time, his body will be ready to throw. Once he trains, the guys at the training facility will call their scouts in. He will throw. He will be 'lights out.' He will put on a show...then he will sign a big league contract.

If not......

He will play in the independent league and keep his fingers, toes, and eyes crossed.

And with that....I have to run to work....pick up Tink......take her on her errands......Oh, by the way, our Tink was hit in an intersection as another driver ran a red light. Thankfully, she was not injured except for a bruised wrist. The air bag deployed causing a nose bleed, but she is healthy and intact.  Her car was not so lucky....after being towed, it looks like the damage is fairly extensive. I will give homage to Honda CRVs. This car stood up and protected our Tink while the other car was totaled. Who says that prayers do not work?



Off to work!



peace!

Crunch goes the car

Greetings and happy Saturday! This has been quite a week and I am excited about the weekend. Why?
'Cause I have nothing planned at this moment except to hit the Y for some Zumba.

With that said, I have not seen the big lefty since Thursday. He has either been working out or working out. He gets out of bed after I leave the houses and comes back when I am asleep. This is the reason, my friends, why I hit his car last Sunday.



That's right. I had an accident in my own driveway. As I pulled out of the garage, I waved at the pups and Tink then went 'boom', 'crash' and 'crumple.' I had backed into the big guy's ten year old Cadillac that he has been driving. Yep, it was my fault. Yep, I am a dope. Yep, the damage is roughly $1200.00 for his car and all I had were two small scratches.



Stupid, right?

Not paying attention, right?



Not a good example for my children, right?



Actually, this was a good thing that happened. Sure, it cost me a small fortune but here is what we learned.....

My car has not been insured since October of last year.

How does that happened? Uh, will anyone believe that it is not my fault?

You see......

We have two cars of the same model and year. The insurance company insured the one car but not the other (mine). Therefore, if anything had happened over the past 6+ months, it would possibly have been catastrophic. I would have needed more than the change under my sofa cushions to pay for that problem.

After waiting for three days and the car being stuck in the garage, I got the message that it was finally insured. Sooooo...in a weird and somewhat perverse way, it was a great thing that I had an accident in my own driveway.

On to other things....the first week of the body realignment is over and there have been a  number of positive things that have happened such as the kid's sternum no longer cracks when he moves. Gross, right? For party games, he would crack it and make me cringe. In a perfect world, a 23 year old athlete's sternum should not move.

Now, it does not after one week of proper training and realignment. Cool, huh?

Also, I have had two phone calls this week asking me for the kid's insurance information. Apparently, IBX wants the university medical insurance number and they are calling me. Has anyone heard of HIPAA? With that said, I told the woman on the phone that I did not know the university's phone number and that she should 'google' it.

Her reply to me was (in a very sarcastic way) "I am NOT going to google the phone number."



Then, honey, you are going to have to touch base with the person who has it and not his mother. Just sayin'. By the way, good luck getting in touch with him because his voice mail box has been full for a year.

Dad has not heard from the university as far as the surgery claim and is now moving up the chain of command to the Athletic Director. That's right. he's going in and he's not leaving until he gets a check to cover the surgery from an injury caused by their trainers. Further, the doctors had misdiagnosed it.



This is the third time that the doctors have misdiagnosed the big kid. For those who remember, he was misdiagnosed with his shoulder (a training injury), and his mono which he had to be admitted to the hospital at home with epiglottis, and now his sports hernia (caused by their training methods).  We have the documentation and are ready for action. Stay tuned. It might get uglier.



And now, it is time for me to shake my hips in an attempt to slim them down an inch or five.

Enjoy the weekend!

Peace!