I received a letter from the government telling me that they desperately needed me to guide them through an important event. As such, I have decided it was time to clean out my folder of potential blog topics, that don't quite have enough to make a complete blog, before I embark on my civic duty as a juror Tuesday. Like I'm anybody's peer.
First up today is the shit show we all call, the United States Senate. This has become the most dysfunctional place in Washington, in a town littered with dysfunction. It was bad enough when the Democrats, and Republicans, couldn't agree on what day of the week it was. Nothing was getting done, and one party was trying to stop the other party from doing anything.
Well good news. All that crap is still going on but now we've added the Democrats who can't even organize themselves to agree on anything. Joe Manchin can't decide if he is a Democrat, or a Republican, so he won't sign off on the the Presidents agenda. While he is trying to find himself, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has decided she is going to be a maverick just like her hero John McCain. The problem is that she has no idea where she stands on any issue, and won't tell anyone what the hell she wants.
She is less a maverick and more of a roadblock. She is so full of herself that she won't even return phone calls to the President, when he has called to find out what the hell she wants, to pass his agenda. Meanwhile Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell are busy calling each other names and taking the country to the brink of bankruptcy all to prove who has the bigger dick. I'm sorry, I mean who is the bigger dick.
Biden can't get his beloved Senate organized, and he refuses to send his Vice President, Kamala Harris, over there to kick somebody's ass. The two Senate whips, are doing nothing to help, as John Cornyn of Texas doesn't know where he is, or what is going on, and Dick Durbin of Illinois just walks around shaking his head in despair.
So, while everyone in the Senate is acting like third graders at lunch trying to find someone to sit next to, the clock is ticking on a Presidents agenda not getting passed; the debt ceiling is about to collapse, with the country defaulting on its payments; voting rights are being trampled on, and destroyed; a border is still in turmoil as we continue to turn people away, instead of welcoming them with open arms; along with about twenty other important issues that need to be addressed.
It is just unbelievable that this mess is going on, still. When do we start to get serious about term limits to stop this from happening?
This is one of the best times of the year for sports fans across America. Baseball is in playoff mode with the division championship series under way. White Sox/Astros, Brewers/Braves, Red Sox/Rays, and Dodgers/Giants are all compelling for their own reasons. So far the Astros are the only team to take charge, winning both of their home games to start their best of five series with the White Sox. All four should be fantastic to watch.
The NFL is rolling thru its first half of the season with plenty of things going on for even the casual fan to find interesting. For Bears fans, the future is here, as their top draft choice, Justin Fields, was named the starting quarterback going forward. How will he do? The Chiefs have looked average so far as they defend their AFC title, while the Arizona Cardinals have become the new "it" team for 2021.
The NHL is closing out its preseason this weekend and its biggest move over the summer was announcing that ESPN will be back as the primary television outlet for the sport. NBCSN decided to not renew its deal and for some reason, ESPN which has ignored the sport for ten years, jumped back in to take the deal.
College football has become a wide open field in 2021 for the football playoffs. Yesterday alone, #1 Alabama, #4 Penn State, #10 BYU, and #13 Arkansas all lost, creating turmoil with the voters for who is the new number one team. I will go out on a limb and say that Georgia becomes the #1 team this week. Stay tuned for an exciting finish to this years road to the playoffs.
I was watching some show about the military, a few weeks ago, and they were talking about various people, and showing their names and ranks, and for the life of me I had no idea what their ranks meant. I mean, I know the difference between a private and a general of course, but what is the difference between a Sergeant First Class in the Army, a Petty Officer First Class in the Navy, a First Sergeant in the Marines, and a Master Sergeant in the Air Force?
The Navy guy is an E6, the Army and Air Force guys are E7, and the Marine guy is an E8. What does that mean, I have no idea except I'm pretty sure an E8 outranks an E6. I think. Why do they make it so confusing? At least the Coast Guard and Navy have the same ranks and names for their people. To further confuse the average person, some of these guys you call Sir, and some you don't. Again, why? I have no idea.
In very troubling news this week, golf's first major, The ANA Inspiration, or as it will always be known, The Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, has been stolen from the Coachella Valley, specifically Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, and is being moved to Houston, to be known as the Chevron Open.
This is devastating news for us down here as there was pride in having a golfing major in our backyard. Losing this tournament will have a much greater effect on our market than many are saying. A lot of people stuck around until mid April because of this event being here. Now that it will be gone, the snowbirds will be leaving a few weeks sooner, taking their money with them, and hurting businesses in the area.
This is on par with the PGA deciding to move the Masters to Portland, Oregon. No matter how nice the new course will be, it will never again be the Masters, or in this case, the Dinah. A crushing blow to golf fans. Enjoy the last leap into Poppy's Pond this April.
Finally, on a personal note. Thank you to all that sent kind words to us for our anniversary. I know 43 is not a magical number like 45 or 50, but it seemed like the right time to share with everyone for some reason. We spent our special day as you would expect, watching TV in separate rooms, and spending thirty minutes together over Chinese take-out for lunch.
Hopeless romantics indeed.