Once Upon A Car [2013 original with AI background]
Saturdays that can be chill moments for everyone are good for the soul. No one was rushing around to get out the door early. Everyone was able to move at their own pace. G worked on a sewing project he started earlier this week in the sewing club. Tipper went over to a friend’s house and hung out most of the afternoon/evening. Kat went to work around 11:30 and then to Brandon’s for the weekend. I got to watch football. If every Saturday this fall can be as restful, we’ll all be a lot healthier. The only one who’s being ornery is Frankie, the smashed-face wheezer kitty, who is determined to either sit directly behind me in my office chair, or directly in front of the monitor while I’m typing. Right now, he’s nudging my coffee cup, encouraging me to get a refill so he can take my seat.
Football was exactly what one would expect from the first game of the season. Everyone who was supposed to win, all the top-ranked teams, pretty much blew out their opponents. OU and Oklahoma State both won. IU and Purdue both won. Georgia and Tennessee both won. None of those games were even close past the first quarter. I was a little surprised that UCLA seemed to have a rough time with Hawai’i, winning with one of the lower scores of the day, 16-13. And how the hell did tiny little Abilene Christian manage to stay so close to Texas Tech? Tech won, barely, 52-51. A score like that indicates that neither team had any defense on the field. I kinda felt sorry for Akron’s starting QB. Akron got a 3-0 jump on Ohio State in the first quarter, but then OSU came roaring back and was absolutely pummeling Akron’s QB. After only four plays into the third quarter, the poor dude limped off the field, never to return to the game. I would imagine he’s reconsidering his career choices this morning. Ah, football.
Speaking of football, it’s the first Sunday in September. Why the hell aren’t the pro teams playing today? Oh, I get it, it all has to do with where the season ends and how the playoff games hit the calendar. Still, it seems odd to not have any pro games to watch today. Of course, San Francisco is probably happy about that after rookie Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery yesterday afternoon. Pearsall’s in stable condition this morning and the 17-year-old assailant is in jail.
Someone tried calling me at 11:36 last night. I was so dead asleep that I never heard the phone ring, which is saying something since the ringer was set high while Tipper was out. Local number, not in my contacts list. If that is you, please let me know. My guess, however, is that it was a wrong number.
There’s a deeply disturbing story in the Sunday Times.Acadia Healthcare has been holding people against their will to maximize insurance payout. Acadia operates a chain of psychiatric hospitals. Their patients are essentially held captive until the hospital decides to let them go. Attempting to leave a psych hospital without proper authorization can get a person arrested in most states. This gives Acadia the leverage they need to hold patients longer than legitimate treatment would require. The story leaves me wondering just how many other psych hospitals utilize the same method. I’m thinking a nationwide investigation is necessary to get to the bottom of the issue.
Labor Day weekend is when we allegedly celebrate the working person and the advantages brought to the workforce by organized labor. Our adoption of the 5-day, 40-hour workweek was a fundamental change for workers around the world. We may be losing our edge, though. Japan wants its hardworking citizens to try a 4-day workweek. As hardworking as US people are, Japanese workers break the scale. They even have a phrase (that doesn’t translate well) for working yourself to death. If Japan ends up embracing the 4-day workweek, that will put pressure on all other industrialized nations, including the US, to match the schedule. While a few US companies have tried adding an extra day to the weekend or other variations, no major company has fully adopted the concept and stayed with it. We’ll all be interested to see how this plays out.
You know, I still haven’t found those readers that disappeared yesterday. I did find an old, wire-rimmed pair that sits loosely on my face, so I’m getting by. I’m still baffled by where they could have gone.
I need to get moving, though. There’s some yard work that needs to get done before the temp gets too high. The humidity is suffocating so putting things off works against us.
I think I need another cup of coffee first, though.
Morning Update: 09/01/24
Saturdays that can be chill moments for everyone are good for the soul. No one was rushing around to get out the door early. Everyone was able to move at their own pace. G worked on a sewing project he started earlier this week in the sewing club. Tipper went over to a friend’s house and hung out most of the afternoon/evening. Kat went to work around 11:30 and then to Brandon’s for the weekend. I got to watch football. If every Saturday this fall can be as restful, we’ll all be a lot healthier. The only one who’s being ornery is Frankie, the smashed-face wheezer kitty, who is determined to either sit directly behind me in my office chair, or directly in front of the monitor while I’m typing. Right now, he’s nudging my coffee cup, encouraging me to get a refill so he can take my seat.
Football was exactly what one would expect from the first game of the season. Everyone who was supposed to win, all the top-ranked teams, pretty much blew out their opponents. OU and Oklahoma State both won. IU and Purdue both won. Georgia and Tennessee both won. None of those games were even close past the first quarter. I was a little surprised that UCLA seemed to have a rough time with Hawai’i, winning with one of the lower scores of the day, 16-13. And how the hell did tiny little Abilene Christian manage to stay so close to Texas Tech? Tech won, barely, 52-51. A score like that indicates that neither team had any defense on the field. I kinda felt sorry for Akron’s starting QB. Akron got a 3-0 jump on Ohio State in the first quarter, but then OSU came roaring back and was absolutely pummeling Akron’s QB. After only four plays into the third quarter, the poor dude limped off the field, never to return to the game. I would imagine he’s reconsidering his career choices this morning. Ah, football.
Speaking of football, it’s the first Sunday in September. Why the hell aren’t the pro teams playing today? Oh, I get it, it all has to do with where the season ends and how the playoff games hit the calendar. Still, it seems odd to not have any pro games to watch today. Of course, San Francisco is probably happy about that after rookie Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery yesterday afternoon. Pearsall’s in stable condition this morning and the 17-year-old assailant is in jail.
Someone tried calling me at 11:36 last night. I was so dead asleep that I never heard the phone ring, which is saying something since the ringer was set high while Tipper was out. Local number, not in my contacts list. If that is you, please let me know. My guess, however, is that it was a wrong number.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the hot seat this morning after the bodies of six hostages were recovered. Evidence shows that the hostages were all killed shortly before they might have been rescued. Israelis are blaming Netanyahu for not having signed an earlier cease-fire that would have returned the hostages while they were still alive. It seems the world has grown tired of this senseless war. It’s time for the whole thing to end.
There’s a deeply disturbing story in the Sunday Times. Acadia Healthcare has been holding people against their will to maximize insurance payout. Acadia operates a chain of psychiatric hospitals. Their patients are essentially held captive until the hospital decides to let them go. Attempting to leave a psych hospital without proper authorization can get a person arrested in most states. This gives Acadia the leverage they need to hold patients longer than legitimate treatment would require. The story leaves me wondering just how many other psych hospitals utilize the same method. I’m thinking a nationwide investigation is necessary to get to the bottom of the issue.
Labor Day weekend is when we allegedly celebrate the working person and the advantages brought to the workforce by organized labor. Our adoption of the 5-day, 40-hour workweek was a fundamental change for workers around the world. We may be losing our edge, though. Japan wants its hardworking citizens to try a 4-day workweek. As hardworking as US people are, Japanese workers break the scale. They even have a phrase (that doesn’t translate well) for working yourself to death. If Japan ends up embracing the 4-day workweek, that will put pressure on all other industrialized nations, including the US, to match the schedule. While a few US companies have tried adding an extra day to the weekend or other variations, no major company has fully adopted the concept and stayed with it. We’ll all be interested to see how this plays out.
You know, I still haven’t found those readers that disappeared yesterday. I did find an old, wire-rimmed pair that sits loosely on my face, so I’m getting by. I’m still baffled by where they could have gone.
I need to get moving, though. There’s some yard work that needs to get done before the temp gets too high. The humidity is suffocating so putting things off works against us.
I think I need another cup of coffee first, though.
Share this:
Like this: