We now Sit and Wait

There is a storm a brewin'. There will be more to write later. Tonight I am choosing to relax with the family as we have another day of preparation ahead of us. I will never complain or curse the work. I hope everyone stays safe and gets some great stories to share with all of us once it passes you safely. Enjoy the time with your family and remember to pick up your trash. Lastly, we will be okay. Back with you in three days.

Turn Right and Spare us the Drama

So, I feel like I could write about anything tonight and it would get about the same response. I could write about sports, a former player, sex in public places, the state of economic affairs, or even the art of a beautiful relationship and it wouldn’t matter. It appears that most of the world I swirl around in is contemplating the end of the world as they know it with an impending storm of catastrophic proportions. The part that is amazing is that we don’t even know where it is going yet. I guess that is the part that is so paralyzing.

As bad as this could turn out to be there is still work to do for a lot of everyday workers. The people who are lucky enough to stay at home and prepare are basking in the glow that they have done what others are not capable of doing at this point. Trying to do your daily work is going to be difficult from this point forward. People are wiping out their bank accounts (not really but waiting in line at the bank feels like it), trying to get gas because you drive for a living is tortuous (because people are filling up enough cans to drive to Alaska), doing regular grocery shopping is an afternoon event (yes, some of us need regular groceries and not ten cases of water for our family of three), and those same people have forgotten how to drive because they are checking the latest track while going to get plywood, generators, and batteries (better protect the house but screw the other drivers).

Of course, I am making light of this potentially disastrous situation. It really is potentially scary. It could possibly be life changing for some and life ending for others. I would never belittle people and their fears. What I am saying is step back and really look at what is going on around you. If you have lived in this area for any period of time you have been through big storms. It wasn’t that long ago that we dealt with the trifecta in southeast Polk County of Charlie, Francis, and Gene. It was devastating for some and very inconvenient for others. It cracks me up listening to people talk about those storms and how bad it was. Those same people live in the cities where my family had to travel to so that we could get hot meals from restaurants and gas for the generators we had to use. You see, they were inconvenienced and it sucked but we had no power for over a week and no house for over 9 months but for us it was an adventure that toughened us for the next ones. This is the perspective I look at things through. For some, it was catastrophic, for others it was catastrophic, and for another group it was catastrophic. Three separate regions, three levels of devastation, and each group thought that it was terrible. It is how we each see it.

I guess that is what I am saying in my little piece. This hurricane will damage something. What, we have no idea of knowing. Maybe I will be out of my house for another extended period of time (damn, I hope not), maybe people will lose everything that they treasured, or maybe it will skirt by and we will all be pissed that we wasted our time. Whichever way it goes stop and think for a moment, “Can I move forward?” “Will it be hard?” Probably, but at least you can move on, and “Could it have been worse?” If you can answer yes to these questions you are human and have the power to make your little area better than it was. It truly sucked to have my house devastated. It sucked renting a house for nine months, celebrating my daughter’s birthday while sitting out another hurricane, and driving 50 miles round trip a day to fill up 60 gallons of gas to run the family’s interests. You know what didn’t suck. Coming home to a house that had a new roof, new walls, and being able to go to lock the doors with the same amount of people in the house that were there the day the roof left. Be safe, be smart, and look around. People are trying their best and it’s not our job to tell them how to do it. Fear can be paralyzing but preparation can be their lifesaver.

Oh yeah, the only Irma I’ve ever known was a little girl I went to college with many years ago. This one seems a lot bigger and potentially much meaner than the one I knew. Batten down the hatches and be smart.

Fanatics Pay the Bills -- Spectating is Big Business

As the day nears completion I realized in order to stay consistent I needed to knock out a blog. It’s on the calendar so it must get accomplished. This is not the only thing on the calendar it appears. I think college football has started from the looks of social media and television exposure. Next the NFL will begin in earnest. Not that anyone cares, I am pumped because I am going the MXGP at WW Ranch tomorrow. I will not explain because if you know, you know, and if you don’t you won’t care anyway. Everybody has their thing and mine is definitely not large men scrambling for a pig skin while others create wealth from the damage they enjoy giving themselves and the opponent. I do like pig skins but the pork rind variety. They can be plain, hot, even the salt and vinegar variety are tasty. Crispy, fatty, but hey no carbs.

Sorry, I digressed there. I don’t have a favorite team anymore. When I followed the sports world, I was a fan of FSU because my dad was a UM fan, I couldn’t be a UF fan because everyone else was. It is amazing how many people give money to an institution that they have never attended. Why, but that is for a different day. Peer pressure and coolness are amazing factors. I really liked Texas A&M, because they had this twelfth man thing where an actual walk on was on the kicking team, or something like that. I was young, it was a cool thing. They also had this amazing tradition before the Texas game and this ornate bonfire. Tragedy ended the bonfire and big money probably changed the other. The last team I like was University of Washington. I mean, you must be a bad ass to wear purple and gold. Plus, how cool would it be to tailgate on a boat before a game. I was young, it was cool to sit around and watch games, and I didn’t have other things I cared about.

As I sit here now I really couldn’t tell you anything substantial about the football world. I know UF played Michigan today and lost but I don’t know the score. I think Maryland beat Texas, a billion-dollar athletic program even in defeat, and my dad was frustrated because his beloved Apps were getting throttled by Georgia while I was on the phone with him. I think my father in law was excited for the potential of a great game tonight with FSU vs. Alabama. I understand the excitement and camaraderie. For years we went to multiple Bucs games and did the whole tailgate experience. I’ve been to the swamp and watched the Gator Getters’ do their thing with prospective players. I’ve experienced the joy of victory and the agony of defeat while freezing in Boone. Of course, I’ve experienced the same thing while sweating so much I made a puddle in the old sombrero at Tampa.

I guess my biggest issue with any of this is the time commitment over and over for weeks on end. Plus, how much does the average fan remember after consuming so many beverages there is no need for embalming? I jest, but seriously it is a great question. There are so many other things that I could do besides sit on a couch for several hours each weekend watching other people do stuff. I want to do not watch. Yes, I am going to a race tomorrow to spectate but it is a one-off event that will not happen again at this venue. Apples to oranges so don’t even go there. Why have we become spectators versus doers? Televisions are beautiful now, stadium food is much better than it used to be, but seriously, wouldn’t it be cooler to actually go do something you could control versus watching something that you cannot control no matter how much you drink or yell?

Just my two cents. Don’t worry I rarely miss the big events. With the advent of social media and 24- hour news I get to keep up with scores and stats. You all are awesome at putting your teams results up so if I can just find friends from each major team I am covered for the entire season. I enjoy the barbs towards your opponents, how when your team wins they are going all the way, and when they lose it’s not because they suck or got outplayed. There is always an excuse of some sort that is the cause. Sometimes teams just aren’t as good as you hope they are. Ask any Gator, Longhorn, or Mountaineer tonight.
Keep cheering, keep paying, and wear your team on your sleeve (I guess that fits in with keep paying). All of this is in jest because what I like gets so little press that I get a bit jealous with how easily you can view or attend your favorite thing. Maybe one day I can travel the Supercross circuit, Motocross circuit, or the IMSA circuit so I too can watch my favorite thing each time it happens. Congrats to those that won, there is always next week for those that were defeated, and keep posting pics of that amazing food you prepare for each of these events.