College Football

I love college football. After all, it means something. The players aren't paid millions of dollars to play. At least, they aren't supposed to be. When I was a kid, Mother and I would watch college football on TV. She was a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys too, but she loved to watch college football, especially Alabama. That's where she was from. She instilled in me the love for football. Who are my favorite teams? South Carolina, Clemson, Alabama, PC, and lots more. I have a problem when two favorites play each other like last night. Clemson played Alabama. Clemson was supposed to win, but Alabama did. That's another great thing about college football. Any team can win. Look at Appalachian State who beat Michigan last year. When I was at PC, I got in trouble with the football team about some stuff I wrote for the school newspaper. I insulted their intelligence. I stand behind what I wrote, but I am sorry that I wrote it, since it caused so much trouble against me. But putting politics aside, college football is fun. I love college football. Have I said that already? Well, I do. The season has begun. The sportswriters have already picked Oklahoma and Southern California to meet for the title of the best team in America. I think there are 11 games to go, so some team may surprise them. Let's go East Carolina.

Hurricanes

My earliest memory is being holed up in a hotel in Biloxi MS with my parents and brother during a hurricane. The water was in the lobby, and we were on the 2nd floor. My father took us in the car back to New Orleans with the water over the tires. The scariest night of my life was in Columbia during Hugo. Oddly, my parents slept through the storm, but I was up and afraid. For years later, I couldn't deal with any wind or storm without anxiety attacks. Then Katrina came through New Orleans and destroyed my boyhood home. I have a very deep respect and fear of hurricanes. Now, Gustav is coming toward the Gulf Coast. I fear for those folks, and I pray that everyone gets through okay. God help us all.

My Car Part 2

Okay. Two and a half hours later, I got my car fixed. They did an oil change, replaced the spark plugs and some other stuff. It drives better, and I hope it is fixed okay. It was $119. I don't know why I fret so. I lose sleep and worry about things. It's my nature. I guess that is why I am in and out of depression. I have good days and bad. The good days are when I am with my friends. The bad days are every other time. I try and not let the demons come out, but sometimes they do. They did last night. They did this morning. Now, things seems a little better, I guess. Don't let the demons come out again.

My Car

My car is sick. It is idling roughly when stopped. It doesn't have any pep, when I press the gas. I am hoping it needs a tune-up. I cannot remember when it last had a tune-up, specifically spark plugs. So, I think that is the case. My car turned over 161,000 recently. The body is rusting. I have had it for almost 20 years. I wish I could get a newer car, but can't afford it. Oh, I got the bill from my trip to the ER a couple of weeks ago. I had no idea how expensive that would be. It was over $2000. Somebody is getting rich here. They did cut the bill in half, as I didn't have any insurance. I have applied for financial assistance from the hospital, since I don't have a job. I am hoping they will be a little more understanding, and I won't have to pay $1000. But, I am in collections from other credit card companies, or their proxies, so one more debt won't be too unusual. I hate being poor. I am in a situation now, where I just pray somehow someone will help me. As the old Beatles song says: "It's getting better all the time, Can't get much worse."

Six Flags

Everyone has a place that means something special for them. Maybe a place where something really good happened to them. Or maybe something not so good. But, the place that has consistently been a special place for me is Six Flags Over Georgia. I know that might seem strange, especially since I have those places in Europe and Israel, as well as other places in the States and Puerto Rico, but looking back on a place that has made a big impact on my life and that's Six Flags. Why you ask? Well, let's look at it. I went there in high school and have the world's record for the number of people one can cram into a log and the log flume ride (7). After that, the ride said you could put no more than 4 people in a log. In the summer of 1970, I went to Six Flags with the youth group from Kilbourne Park Baptist Church. The people who saved my life. I was with Craig, Pam and Gail. It was like a foursome date. We had a lot of fun together, until we got separated by going for ice cream. Craig and I spent the rest of the day searching for Pam and Gail. We found out that the girls were looking for us, too. As they were looking for us, we found out later that we were both circling in the same direction behind them. At one point, Craig and I changed directions, and so did Pam and Gail. We decided to just go on the rides and enjoy the park without the girls. On the car ride, we looked off in the distance and saw Pam and Gail on another car far ahead of us. We yelled out to them and waved. They waved back. When we got off of the ride, there they were. 3 hours of being apart. It was quite amazing. When I was in college, I went to Six Flags. It was raining, and I went on the Scream Machine. The speed of the roller coaster made the rain feel like bullets. The brakes on the roller coaster failed with the rain, so there was an element of danger on it. It was great fun. On our way back to school, we got pulled on I-85 by a local cop for going 115mph. Thankfully, I wasn't driving, but the cop looks at us and asks if we had been to Six Flags. He had a little sense of humor. We had to take up a collection to give to him, so we wouldn't go to jail. When I worked at Belk, I went to Six Flags with my friends Del and Chris. On one trip, we went with my friend George to stay overnight. We were going to stay at a motel right by the front gate, but it was a dump. The air conditioner was broken, and there were no light bulbs in the bathroom. We ended up moving to the Red Roof Inn. When we were going back to Columbia, we got pulled over in North, SC by a local cop for going 40 in a 25 zone. Chris was driving and didn't see the 25 sign behind a tree on the side of a building. You see a little trend developing? Chris, Del and I went back to Six Flags in October. It was cold, and they had snow flurries. We wore light jackets, because it was a lot warmer in Columbia. We rode the rides but had to hold on to the ride through our jacket pockets. We would go into shops to get warm. One clerk thought we were stealing something and called security. We went to the haunted house. It was quite scary and dark. One guy started up a chainsaw right behind me. I saw my life pass before my eyes. We left the park freezing to death. I haven't been back to Six Flags. But, it has made a serious impression on my life. Mostly fun.

The Weather

A friend told me once that things are more important than the weather. He said that our conversation should be deeper than "How's the weather?" I suppose that is true, but on days like yesterday where we had good and bad, the weather is the most important thing. It started off with wonderful rain. It was drenching rain. It was rain from the tropical storm Fay. We are in a severe drought. There are water restrictions. There is worry that we might not have enough water for drinking and bathing. So, when there is a lot of rain, everyone gets excited. You see people walking around smiling, and you know why. It is raining. I guess those folks in Washington State can't understand why we are so happy about rain, but we just don't get much. It is a beautiful thing. But yesterday, things got ugly. The storms brought tornadoes. I have written earlier about my experience with tornadoes. Some folks get excited about tornadoes. I have friends who want to chase these things. I say no. I want to get away from those things. They don't excite me in the least. I say let's duck and cover. The storms came. A tornado went through Clemson and did some damage. I think there were others, too. Thankfully, there were no injuries, just some property damage. There were tornadoes where I am. I think this condo is built pretty well, but it is still scary. If I ask you how is the weather, I am not being superficial. I am truly interested. We had the good rain, but we had the bad storms. At least, it wasn't too ugly for us. Pray it doesn't get too bad today.

Political Junkie

I am a political junkie. I grew up in a family of political junkies. My father wasn't so much, but my mother and brother were. Most of the people on my mother's side were politcal junkies. Some of them held political office. A few on my father's side also held political office. One of my ancestors was a man named Lord Delawar, which the state of Delaware was named for. I also have royal blood from France. I think all of this contributes to me being a political junkie. So, with the Democrats and Republicans having their conventions this week and next, I am really enjoying it. Is this weird? Yeah, probably. But, it is one of those things that make me up into my complex self. I can't say at this point, who I plan to vote for, but I can say that this stuff is fun. The conventions don't have much suspense anymore, since we already know who are the nominees, but there is always something that inspires, like Ted Kennedy's speech last night. When I had cable, I watched CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox News all the time. I knew news. I don't have cable now, since I moved, but I still watch as much news as I can. Growing up, we always watched the 6:30pm news on NBC. Our house stopped for that time. I still watch that news. It is the thing that I do, and if I miss it for some reason, I feel like my life is incomplete. As my life has been shall we say "colorful", I don't think I could ever hold elective office. There is just a little bit too much stuff that I have done, whether chemical or illegal. So, I just don't think I would survive the scrutiny of reporters. So, I can be a political junkie without being in politics.