So I spent several thousand dollars picking up the car from the garage yesterday, and boy was it worth it. Runs like a champion, and I had been considering looking for a “new” used car later on in the year, finances allowing, and the guy told me that would be stupid because I can get several more years of quality driving out of my car. That’s great news, because I love how it rides. Love my Subaru.
At any rate, went to the garage this morning, started the car to go to the post office, and… the garage door apparently died.
I just said to hell with it, went back upstairs, and went back to bed. This basically sums up 2010 in a nutshell for me. Started with a broken shoulder that disabled me for months, went into a series of appliance and computer failures, followed by multiple deaths of friends and family, a car failure, and now this. 2011 can’t get here soon enough.
I’ve also grown concerned that this is what getting old is all about. You spend the rest of your life discovering new pains, rehabilitating or replacing body parts and things on you house and car, burying friends and family, and building grievances until you say fuck it all and just die.
*** Update ***
In the positive category, I can state that my penis was not amputated because of a medical error. So I got that going for me.
Beth in VA
You are much too young to be so concerned with getting old. But yet, I think you’ve it about right!
cervantes
Wow John, I’m sorry you’re feeling so down. You know that getting older isn’t just about that — we have a chance to grow wiser, to accomplish things we’ve always wanted, to rediscover ourselves. You’re a very resourceful person. You’ll feel better in a bit.
Church Lady
And a Happy New Year to you, too! Hopefully 2011 will be better for you, because you don’t need to get any more cranky.
Yutsano
Well in 2010 I developed a degenerating hip condition but also got sweet new job. So it was a wash in the end.
And looking into Subaru ownership here too. Rented one over Christmas holiday, loved it. Just working out the affordability at this point.
Oh and akemashite o omedeto gozaimasu mo!
pdoege
Well, yeah.
But the idea is to have fun doing it and to not take it too seriously.
It all looks better in hindsight anyway.
Peter
JenJen
If it makes you feel any better (it won’t), to top off my shitty week, I had two root canals this morning.
2010 can suck it, if you ask me! Begone, I say.
As an aside, I’m hoping geg6 jumps in this thread eventually to regale us with Alumni Game and Winter Classic stories. Really hope they’re able to pull this thing off tomorrow, it’s, like, the only thing I’m looking forward to.
t1
Jeez, happy new year to you, too.
les
Well, you pretty much captured getting older; but you can look forward to growing hair in places you had no idea that you need or wanted hair. Ears, inside and outside nose, etc. My new favorite is my eyebrows expanding to colonize the entire eyelid. I guess what used to grow on my head had to go somewhere. So, there’s that. And vast amounts of bodily energy formerly used for something positive is converted to the production of gas. New skills, my man, new skills.
Superluminar
HNYTY! Cudlip.
Paris
I learned a long time ago, if you fix something, something else breaks. Its better to just live with everything half working.
demkat620
You forgot clipping coupons and searching for places to use your AARP discount.
Also too, Early Bird Specials.
Dave C
John, you need a woman.
Gin & Tonic
Uh, go back downstairs to the garage and turn off the Subaru’s engine, or else 2010 will end badly indeed.
Keith G
John, yes all that stuff happens – again and again. But some/most of us refuse to submit and we keep on finding ways to choose to find joy.
Old age sucks a lot more if one gives in.
Linkmeister
Hey, Tunch and Lily and Rosie are still in good health, so there’s that.
General Stuck
It’s not so bad, dyin’ and all.. That last part does represent a fork in the road. Building grievances will certainly kill you before your time. It doesn’t have to go that way though.
Gin & Tonic
Incidentally, one of the feature pieces in the year-end double issue of The Economist is about how it’s all downhill until age 46, and then happiness increases pretty much for the rest
of your life. Worth a read, if it’s available on-line to non-subscribers (being a subscriber, I can’t easily tell.)
JenJen
@cervantes: He’s not feeling down. In fact, this might be the happiest Cole has sounded in weeks!
Politically Lost
“until you say fuck it all and just die”
What happens when you say fuck it all and you don’t die? I’ll tell you because I have intimate personal knowledge of this particular thought. You get up and go to work in the morning because there’s no other choice.
Gin & Tonic
@Gin & Tonic: linky in case anyone is interested.
stuckinred
You can do that or you can enjoy every fucking minute you get.
JWL
Tough shit, and fuck the Steelers.
Alex S.
Plant a tree or something.
stuckinred
Steve Forbert
You’ve got a lotta detail in your life of late you find
Hey now that you got kids well things loom larger in your mind
You make your best decisions in the time that you’re allowed
and still get caught at Christmas in that final countdown crowd
It’s always problems everywhere
You’re jugglin’ every one
You do your best each day but
when the sun goes down it’s done, it’s done
and then, what slips through the cracks is just gonna go ahead and fall
Don’t let it keep you up nights,
when you know my friend
You cannot win ’em all
Exterminator, Lawyer, Doctor, Daycare, Dental bill
Hey, now that you’re essential, have you made yourself a will?
You gotta have insurance just to drive your car to work
and wind up down in court with some bad actor, neckbrace jerk. . .
It’s always problems everywhere
You’re jugglin’ every one
You do your best each day but
when the sun goes down it’s done, it’s done
and then, what slips through the cracks is just gonna go ahead and fall
Don’t let it keep you up nights,
when you know my friend
You cannot win ’em all, oh no, oh no.
Mary Jane
I believe you’re right, John. Perhaps its nature’s way of easing us out of this life — making it easier to let go if we’re lucky enough to die of old age.
Between the pains and shitstorms there are some very fine moments and we should train ourselves to recognize and savor them. Oh, and try to stop letting meaningless, babbling fools cause us anger and frustration. Not easy for anyone with half a brain, but worth a try.
Josie
Two phrases have cropped up again and again in my life. The first is “one foot in front of the other,” which I used to repeat to myself when I was a long distance runner (before the heel spur) and needed to keep on going. The other is “hills and valleys,” which expresses the vicissitudes of a long marriage and a long life. You will keep on experiencing both, and you should remember the hills when in a valley and be grateful for the hills when they do occur. And, yes, the hills do keep coming, even as we age.
Brick Oven Bill
Behold the path to happiness. First, realize that you are going to die a painful, awful death all alone. From there everything gets easier. Here is the next sequence:
1. Move yourself in front of a mirror.
2. Face the mirror.
3. Stand as upright as you can.
4. At the top of your lungs state: ‘I am not married to Michelle Obama’.
5. Repeat as necessary, add beer and/or Jack Daniels if desired.
Hope this helps, have a happy new year.
stuckinred
@Brick Oven Bill: You are such a lowlife shit eatin dogfucker it’s beyond belief. You must be an officer.
licensed to kill time
During the last gasp of that storm over SoCal/Baja the winds were really fierce. It blew so hard that a ground wire pulled loose from the electric pole that serves our house, which caused a surge of electricity which:
Fried the telephone downstairs. Had to buy new one.
Fried the transformer on alarm system, no worky no mas. Guy had to come replace it.
Blew out motor on electric garage door opener. Now it’s manual. This involves one person pushing door open with long pole while other person stands ready with second pole to push latch way up on ceiling to hold door open.
Caused TV to make a huge POP and clouds of white smoke emanated from back. Remarkably it still works, though there are wavy lines rolling up the screen that make you a bit seasick.
Caused cable box to POP and smoke as well, it limped along ok until last night when it started an infinite loop of ‘reloading software’ and now only blinks feebly. Called company today, they will send person out right away!
On MONDAY.
And no, the electric company where I live will simply go “ja ja ja snort” if I try to tell them all these things are their fault.
There’s more, but I’m depressed enough already. Happy New Year!
Yutsano
@stuckinred: That was pretty weak troll-fu honestly. BoB is a mere shadow of his former trolling greatness.
@Josie: I’d add one more phrase that gets me through even the worst days: “This too shall pass”. And it’s true. Time fortunately only goes in one dimension.
stuckinred
Looks like the Liberty Bowl may dodge the storm! Woof.
JenJen
@stuckinred: I mean, really.
stuckinred
@JenJen: ok, i changed it
stuckinred
Fort Lost in the Woods got hit by a tornado!
John - A Motley Moose
Sounds like you need to get out more. That last graph was a pretty good summary of life at any age, except you left out everything good.
stuckinred
@Yutsano: Time is an illusion
A second with your hand on a red hot stove is like a lifetime
A lifetime with a beautiful woman is like a second
cmorenc
@JenJen:
While root canals are never, on balance, a pleasant bargain, NEVERTHELESS there is one HUGE upside – the chance to experience a really nice, long trip on nitrous oxide, provided you’re smart enough to use a dentist who offers it and has enough of the right-sort of understanding attitude about it to turn it up as high as you want, so long as you don’t pass out.
cat48
I wouldn’t give up 2010 for anything. A beautiful granddaughter arrived in August. She’s very special!
I do enjoy your blog. Happy New Year to you and everyone else and I hope 2011 is much better for everyone.
Yutsano
@stuckinred: I have a link to an earworm about this, but I don’t think y’all would forgive me for linking it. :)
stuckinred
@Yutsano: what’sa earworm?
asiangrrlMN
Wot Cole said. Harrumph. And yeah. Lawn, off it.
@Gin & Tonic: Link worked. So. I’m doubly-doomed because I’m neurotic AND an introvert. Good to know.
@Yutsano: Post it. Dare ya.
stuckinred, annoying song that won’t leave your mind.
Ruckus
Welcome to the old farts.
It’s a club for everyone who realizes that getting old sucks except that the alternative is just a little bit worse. It also seems that we notice all the bad crap just a little bit more than the good, because, well the ratio seems to be more bad crap to less good stuff. More little pains, more crap breaks that we can’t or don’t want to afford to fix/replace. Injuries take longer, sometimes much longer to heal. And leave lasting impressions even when they do heal. Relationships are harder to forge and easier to let go of.
IOW welcome to the downhill side of life, go as slow as you can because the splash into the icy water at the bottom sucks donkey balls.
Remember it’s not how long you’ve got it’s how you get there that counts.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: All these pups whinin about bein old. Draw your brakes bruddah. . .
The Dangerman
Have had more than my fair share of getting shafted this year; getting deshafted would be the topper. What’s medical liability like in Sweden?
Ruckus
@stuckinred:
A comment after my own heart.
MattR
The Catholics are taking it the Convicts .
Anyone else think it is strange for CBS to be covering a bowl that does not have a SEC tie in?
stuckinred
Draw Your Brakes jah love
Yutsano
@stuckinred: Ya know, I went through all this last night at work. My manager is a grandmother and I work with two gay men older than me. They were shocked I knew as many cultural references as they did. Being baby-faced isn’t all positive.
stuckinred
@MattR: Dam I forgot! That is ALWAYS a CBS gig.
PS
@MattR: I guess their ratings might be going down the, er, tubes?
cmorenc
@stuckinred:
What about being with a beautiful woman while your hand is on a red hot stove? Some unpleasant matters are simply too insistently demanding to allow you to enjoy time with the otherwise beautiful, pleasant things in your life.
Keith
(I am hesitant to say “Fixed” given the double-meaning)
Gina
Oh it can always get worse. Best to be proactive in finding the silver linings. And take your Vitamin D supplements. And Prozac if needed.
Jade Jordan
Balloon Juice: Where bi-polar people come to get happy.
Thanks John. You forgot to say how annoyed you are that the eers lost their bowl game.
General Stuck
Well, the Ky Wildcats thumped arch rival Louisville today, so that is a good thing, though I wasn’t able to watch it streaming for some reason. So it’s on to 2011, and Sunday for the Browns final game of the season, against you know who.
My bar is set low for 2011. Anything above soups lines is win.
The Dangerman
Ah, fuck; I copied over a bad word from the top of the thread and am now in posting purgatory. End of the year can’t come soon enough.
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: I’m old at heart.
@MattR: Yes. Very. And a boring game to boot. I’m rooting for Miami only because I loathe ND, but that’s an old beef, so I really don’t care. I also don’t like Miami.
@Yutsano: I see you and a few others got the whole wedding figured out last night after I left. Good to know.
ETA: Announcers are so bored, they’re talking about Joe Mauer! Funny.
stuckinred
@Ruckus: Like this?
stuckinred
@cmorenc: FIDO
Fuck it and drive on
bemused
I have to say this post is not particularly uplifting.
stuckinred
@The Dangerman: The one I changed?
Sean
Look at it this way. If you had gone to the Post Office today, you would have discovered that it is closed. It’s a federal holiday.
stuckinred
@bemused: All these pep talks? Hell, it’s great!
SIA
@demkat620: Ha! Ha ha! [sob]
stuckinred
@Sean: No it ain’t, they just delivered my mail.
NEW YEAR’S EVE 2010 NOTE: Some U.S. post offices will shorten their retail lobby hours and close at noon on New Year’s Eve 2010. Regular mail delivery is unaffected by this change and should be made as usual on December 31, 2010.
Violet
@Yutsano:
I’ve had a hip problem since October when I fell in the shower. You know how old I feel when I fell in the freaking shower? Ugh. I was down on the tub floor thinking, “Crap! Wheat if I’ve fallen and can’t get up?” But I could, and it didn’t even bruise, but hasn’t been right since. The chiropractor and I are trying to get my pelvis to go where it’s supposed to go, but it’s being ornery.
Hip problems are teh suck. You can’t even walk right if you’ve got a hip problem. I’m getting very, very tired of it.
John, I hope 2011 is better year for you and for all of us. I’m ready for the end of 2010 too.
Raenelle
Actually the evidence is pretty overwhelming that people grow happier as they age–IF they’re healthy.
MattR
@stuckinred: A reggae cover of Pink Floyd’s Time.
And Wikipedia has taught me much about the Sun Bowl which was first played on Jan 1, 1935
cermet
The only thing you get from old age is that at some point, you die – either in terrible pain (thanking death to end it) or if you are lucky by heart failure (fast.) Otherwise, these things happen to you when you are young which would really suck; of course, unlike the third word, we don’t see most of our children die before us (like a few billion in the world do.) If this was God’s idea for humans, I think I’d like to have a word or two about it to give a few pointers on how to make things better … .
asiangrrlMN
Oh, and Cole? Can’t you open the door manually? I can do that with mine if the door opener doesn’t work.
candace
@ John Cole: Sit down and write a list of things you are glad about. When you get an angry thought, find a good thought to replace it with. Remember something that made you feel good, and ponder that.
You are digging yourself into a hole.
Read “The Secret.” Most of it will make you angrier, (and I know, I know, the whole BJ community will come down on me for suggesting that) but you will find a few gems that could turn the tide of all this negative energy you are recycling into yourself.
Hold your nose and decide to be propelled by your joys rather than your frustrations.
:) Drop this baggage on the ground and don’t carry it into the new year.
Yutsano
@Violet: Well the solution for me at this point is to get two bright shiny new ones. And I’ve already decided I’m doing them both at the same time if possible. I’m only getting cut open once if I can help it.
@JPL: Well as a hockey playing friend of mine from college put it:
JPL
This is my feeling…
Shit happens…
move on
MattR
@asiangrrlMN:
That requires having a good shoulder.
@JohnCole:
Way to aim high.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN:
That requires having a good shoulder.
@JohnCole:
Way to aim high.
(reposting with a minor correction to get it out of moderation. Serves me right for copying and pasting something that John wrote. John – can you kill my original comment instead of clearing it from moderation?)
stuckinred
@MattR: Check the 91 score, my Illini lost to UCLA 6-3 in a barn burner!
RAM
The door lift motor might need to be adjusted. It’s pretty simple; there ought to be a little dial on the opener you can find if you pop off the cover over the light you can turn to increase or decrease the opener’s power. That worked for me last year, anyway…
stuckinred
Go to Arlington.
Yutsano
@RAM: I’ve also been hesitant to suggest this, but could it be as simple as the opener remote battery just needs to be changed?
Davis X. Machina
My dad — 83 — has a favorite t-shirt that says “Growing old ain’t for sissies”. It’s a bit antique in its phrasing, but the message is eternal.
Comrade Dread
Well, the bright side is that if the Hindus are right, you get to come back and do it all over again and again until you say ‘F*** it all’ and become nothing and everything.
PanAmerican
@MattR:
USF is putting it to Clemson.
stuckinred
@Yutsano: A garage door mechanism is NOT rocket science.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Aw John Cole, I’m sorry! When you sum up your year like that, and I can remember the posts, I just think… well, I think: Oh my, that man deserves a hot toddy and a fucking break! Which isn’t terribly bright, but it’s heart-felt.
There’s something particularly pointed about the garage door happening after the car. Have you angered any gods this year? Sworn off spaghetti in favor of rice, for instance?
May 2011 be better. As you say: At least you still have your penis.
catclub
join a bridge club.
I have been the youngest member of mine for the last 15 years.
Davis X. Machina
@stuckinred: Just cleared my RFD box of today’s delivery, so the contractors are rolling.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
(typed the following, and forgot to write the last words w/ spaces! So now it’s in moderation. Which at least makes sense, unlike s h o e s).
Aw John Cole, I’m sorry! When you sum up your year like that, and I can remember the posts, I just think… well, I think: Oh my, that man deserves a hot toddy and a fucking break! Which isn’t terribly bright, but it’s heart-felt.
There’s something particularly pointed about the garage door happening after the car. Have you angered any gods this year? Sworn off spaghetti in favor of rice, for instance?
May 2011 be better. As you say: At least you still have your p e n i s.
catclub
@stuckinred: But dealing with the garage door spring the wrong way can kill you. / send you to the moon.
stuckinred
@catclub: Just like the hood spring on my 66 chev. Fucker will take your head off.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Oh, and while I’m at it, a happy and healthy new year to all the BJers out there in the ether!
May the good dreams come true, the bad dreams be buried, and friends and family hold fast and true!
stuckinred
Here’s a garage door FAQ
MattR
@PanAmerican: Not a good start to the day for the ACC. Does this mean I should bet against Florida State later on today?
@stuckinred: I assume you mean Arlington National Cemetary. The town itself is very forgettable. Or maybe I just killed all the brain cells related to the year I lived there.
bemused
@stuckinred:
John’s funk isn’t dimming my euphoria. I second the vitamin D recommendation. The short daylight hours in winter used to have me dragging from Nov to March. Now all the holiday prep is fun, tiring, but I’m back to enjoying it a lot more.
Our kids got on the road after we woke up to 10 inches of snow and made the four hour drive home safely and a flight for one wasn’t cancelled. Christmas is over, steaks on New Year’s Day and there is a 3-4 hour “Weeds” marathon on tonight. It’s all good.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@bemused: But at least this made me laugh.
asiangrrlMN
Cole, I’m glad Obama did not take your pen is.
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: To you, too, my angry white sister.
@Yutsano: At the same time? That’s hard-core, man.
@MattR: Ah. Good point, sir. Very good point. By the way, you get a roundabout mention in my latest post at ABL’s place. Hee.
russell
I think that’s about right, with one quibble: when you get really old, you don’t have to replace stuff on your car, because they make you stop driving.
Or, you know, “I am not Brick Oven Bill!”
replicnt6
So why was your penis amputated?
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@asiangrrlMN: Back-back atcha, frozen angry amber sister o’ the north!
Mnemosyne
It’s been nice having the week off, but I hadn’t realized before the Bank of America calls to sell us some shit every hour on the fucking hour. Jaysus. Now I’m happy to be going out to buy cat food and beer rather than have to keep ignoring their phone calls.
stuckinred
@MattR: Indeed, the cemetery.
JenJen
@cmorenc: Oh, I know. So imagine my disappointment early this morning when the dentist was just about to numb me up and I asked, “Wait, don’t you administer nitrous oxide for this kind of thing? You know, root canals and such?”
To which he replied, “Oh, we have it, but you don’t want it, and you won’t need it. Also, it’s extra out-of-pocket.”
I really, really wanted to say “But, but, I do need it, and I want it very badly” but next thing you know, he’s injecting the novocaine and he’s off to the races.
First time I’ve ever had so much as a filling performed without the ol’ laffy-gas, and this was a freaking root canal. TWO freaking root canals, actually. It was a bummer. Are they getting away from using this stuff, or what? Because let me tell you, I was numb enough that the procedures were painless, but the whole thing was uncomfortable, and unsettling, and I don’t think it had to be like that.
stuckinred
@bemused: I rented Howl in case the Chicken Bowl is boring and the princess puts down the sewing projects!
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Oh, good lord, what am I thinking? I’m a terrible blogger.
I discussed the relative suckage of the year 2010 (and all years, frankly) at my place, this very day!
Time to blog flog: http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/the-suckage-of-human-history-on-the-eve-of-2011/
Perspective is a mighty tool.
(Trying to anticipate the jokes you all will make based on my use of the word “tool,” but failing. Surprise me!)
asiangrrlMN
@JenJen: Last time I had a root canal, no laughing gas for me. Half hour, no fuss, no muss, easiest thing I’ve ever had done to my teeth. Guy was GOOD. I had Novocaine, of course. But two at the same time? Yeah, no.
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: Not so frozen right now! I have two cats on my laps warming me up. ETA: You can not fool me with your mighty tool!
Comrade Dread
@JenJen: I think you just need to find a new dentist.
Honestly, some of them are sadists. Like the last one I dropped.
MattR
@JenJen: I am very glad there was no Youtube in my youth. My father used to love bringing up my goofiness when my dentist uncle gave me laughing gas before pulling a couple of my baby teeth. He most definitely would have taped it and placed it online if that had been an option at the time.
@Comrade Dread: You should meet my uncle :)
tim serbo
yep, 2010 surprised me by being worse than 2009, 2008, and most years prior to those. and by rights, i should say that the heart attack i suffered last week was the capper. but i didn’t dither about calling 911, the EMTs were terrific professionals, and the acute coronary care staff at new york presbyterian, a two-minute ambulance ride from my apartment, are the best–ask Bill Clinton. so unlike my father and both grandfathers, whose first heart attacks were their last, i survived. under the circumstances, 2010 doesn’t look so bad. sorry you’re having a rotten day, John, and i won’t dispute that 2010 was a big fat annus horribilis. but brother, it beats the alternative.
Joseph Nobles
I pretty much gained back all the weight I had lost in 2009, so I’m back on the Nutrisystem until I hit 160 pounds, maybe 150 this time.
Maude
@Yutsano:
They may want to do one hip at a time. The ligaments have to tighten again.
I do know people who have had this done and the difference is wonderful.
Hip trouble means you know that is a major weight bearing joint.
Bet you’re right on the garage.
stuckinred
GO DAWGS!!!!
Genine
On the surface, 2010 could be seen as a bad year for me. I got laid off in 2009 and my unemployment ran out earlier this year. I had a stroke and I’ve only found temp jobs here and there- nothing permanent.
But, I have to say, 2010 has been one of my best years so far. I’ve discovered inner and outer resources I never knew I had. I learned that it’s okay to ask for help from people and I am not “less” for it. I always like to help and give to others but was reluctant to accept help from others. I always thought my friends were great, but they’ve really come through for me. They’ve help me in so many ways, and proactively. Many would call me to see if I needed anything. They’ve never made me feel like I was a mooch or a loser. (Though I had some days I’ve felt like that myself. Ha!)
During my stroke, my friends all rallied behind me. I was in the hospital for a week and I had visitors every day bringing flowers, talking to me, bringing me food. When I got out of the hospital, they checked on me. I’m grateful I had health insurance at the time to cover most things. I am still so thankful for the well-wishes from the Balloon Juice community during that time. Words cannot express how much they meant to me. The artery dissection that caused the stroke was pretty much healed by the time by the time my insurance ended in October. And I’ve learned to be less in my head all the time and to be more holistic in my being.
As for temp jobs, one has always come along when I needed it. I’ve done jobs I’ve never done before. I’ve had to learn a lot of things on the fly, but I’ve been able to do them- successfully. It’s gotten to a point where I now have a small network of companies that will call me to assist them with special projects. I feel that if one of these companies were actually hiring, I would be among the first in line and that’s a good feeling. In the meantime, I am adding more marketable experience on my resume and my list of references is growing. And, when I didn’t have work, my friends would help me with rent, food, utilities, etc.
I’m grateful that, despite everything, I was able to go to school to finish my degree. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to maintain my apartment. I’ve been able to pay rent every month. (It may be by the 30th of the month, but it’s paid in full before the next is due.) I’m glad I have such an understanding landlord. I’ve been able to keep my internet, phone and other utilities. I know others who haven’t been as lucky.
I am also glad that I could also share. I didn’t have a lot but when I was in a position to share, I did so. I would share food or give someone some money and it meant more to me this year than it had in other years. The energy of the giving is more circular, more connected. (I don’t know what other way to put it.)
Basically, this year has opened my eyes to things I never paid attention to before. I am more grateful than I ever have been before and feel more connected to myself and others than I ever had before. I am a lot more confidence and I’ve found an amount of inner-peace I thought would take ten more years of meditation to accomplish. (But don’t get me wrong: the Dalai Lama I am not.) And I know that 2011 will be even better.
I sincerely wish everyone (firebagger, teabagger, fellow “O-bots”, PUMA’s, Democrats, Republicans, dogs, cats and more) a Happy New Year.
asiangrrlMN
@tim serbo: Holy shit. I am so glad you survived that. Good on you for calling 911 so quickly. Man. That’s sobering.
@Genine: Thanks for writing this. It was a lovely read. Good luck to you in the new year.
Evolved Deep Southerner
OK, is it time for a fresh Bowl Game Open Thread or should we just use that old one?
MattR
@tim serbo: Yikes. Glad it was not any worse than it was. Take care of yourself in the new year (and beyond). Best wishes.
And now I need to go follow that same advice.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@tim serbo: Oh my good nightshirt, that is surprisingly good news, given how your comment started…! Wow.
May you heal well and surrounded by love and support, and may 2011 put all that well behind you! Good health, good cheer, and no more coronaries!
ruemara
I dropped 73+ pounds. My skillz in after effects are growing and so are my baking skills. Still very broke, still striving to achieve some of my dreams despite the fact that I don’t dream anymore. 2010 wasn’t the awesomest ever but, I’ll take it. Things that were good did happen. I just want things to be a million times better for next year.
sukabi
In the positive category, I can state that my pen1s was not amputated because of a medical error. So I got that going for me.
see, you’re taunting the gawds and have set yourself up more fun and games in 2011….
stupid moderation, edit to respell pen1s so as to maybe make it out of mod he11
stuckinred
@Genine: That’s what I’m talkin bout!!!
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: Stay here, fuck em if they can’t take a joke!
Who’s that comin down the track. . .
stuckinred
I froze my ass off at the Liberty Bowl when the Illini played Bama in Bear’s last game.
Yutsano
@Genine: Nothing really to add beyond awesome opossum. :)
gelfling545
@cat48: Your comment made me think “what year would I give up?” and – surprise – there wasn’t one I would have skipped although there were many that contained truly awful events (attending my mother’s funeral as the events of 9/11 were being broadcast comes to mind) but still, each year has held something too precious to miss. Thanks for the perspective.
tim serbo
@Genine: what Genine said. bless your heart.
PurpleGirl
@Brick Oven Bill: Wrong Michelle… Michelle Bachman, stupid.
Liberty60
THIS is what getting old is all about.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: Just read it. Is that your way of telling me I need to change the password?
(EDIT: A random thought as I watch the Liberty Bowl kick off – I love the addition of both the yellow first down line and the yellow flag indicator to TV broadcasts. But I can definintely do without Fox adding background music to their broadcasts)
stuckinred
Flag I hope!!!
Whew!
MattF
There’s this:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/6580485/happy-new-year.thtml
The key line is: “Whether the horse was embarrassed or just frightened, I don’t know.”
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Don’t you dare! I can stop any time I want. It’s not like I’m watching the whatever bowl on ESPN right now (go, Georgia!) or that I watched the same episode of Chopped! twice last night because I missed the final verdict. I can stop any time I want. I can! Nooooooooooooooooo!
Maude
@PurpleGirl:
He gets confused about Nancy Regan and Nancy Pelosi, also, too.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Chopped every now and again has decent eye candy. Of both genders. Just to add to your lurve.
Omnes Omnibus
@stuckinred: Hey, un-fucking-called for.
Gina
@Genine: Rock ON! Thanks so much posting this.
Other things besides Vitamin D and meds that keep the downers from getting all the way too low, for me, are to send a few bucks or volunteer with some of the Rottie rescues I like. I can’t deal with taking on a foster or another permanent dog, but even the tiniest amount of cash, plus some encouragement, goes a long LONG way for the volunteers that do the front line work. There are always heartbreaking situations, but I chose to insist on focusing on the WIN column and giving that the weight.
One thing about having a weak memory, as I do, it helps you to forget the icky stuff easily if you put remembering the good parts of things as a priority – there’s usually just not enough file space for both ;-)
PurpleGirl
John and Everybody Else: Have a good evening. May the New Year be better than the last for all of us.
(I’m spending the evening watching Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy. (Still hate that name/spelling.)
asiangrrlMN
Fuck you WordPress.
@MattR: ETA: Re, your ETA. Agreed. Then again, I hate most of the FOX commentators, so the music is really the irritating icing on the crappy cake.
@Yutsano: Oooooh yeah. Nom nom nom. Believe me, I noticed that right away. And given my mania for dating people who cook for me, it’s a bonus!
Gina
@PurpleGirl: Can’t you just picture Bachman’s current husband sobbing to himself in the bathroom mirror?
tim serbo
@asiangrrlMN: thanks very much for the good wishes, asiangrrlMN, et alia. sobering is right, except i’m giddy half the time. i’m a very lucky guy. and if surviving weren’t great enough, i feel miles better than i did before the attack–severely reduced coronary function tends to put one off one’s stride, it seems. now that there’s a stent keeping my circumflex artery open, i’m more energetic and clearheaded and enjoy vastly improved sleep and digestion. and then there’s the euphoria that comes in waves. i wake up smiling every morning–well, who wouldn’t when your alarm clock is a bunny rabbit who likes to dive-bomb his human when it’s time for breakfast? but still, it’s just so great to be alive. i’m not cured by any means, i have to heed the belvedere apollo and change my life, but i have the chance, and that’s not nothing.
and to top it off, the cardiologist cleared me to see guided by voices tonight at irving plaza. hoo-ah!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Just FYI, the Subie I’m seriously looking at buying.
PS snagging lunch BBIAF.
General Stuck
Man, it is nasty here. Freezing, snow pack, ice pack. Not what the southern desert living brochure said when I signed up. And I must apologize to master Cole for making fun of his falling down go boom last winter. Almost did it a couple of times just now, carrying a laundry basket with a dog on a leash.
And that poor dude with the penusectomy. Next time I show up at the hospital, my pecker is going to be wearing a little suicide vest wrapped around it. It goes, so does the cutter.
stuckinred
@Omnes Omnibus: my bad. . .sir!
asiangrrlMN
@Gina: It is rumored in MN that said hubby is closeted. He is a gay-aversion therapist, and he is loudly homophobic.
@Yutsano: Suh-weeeeeet! Melikey. You can take me to the Wild Ginger in it.
@tim serbo: It’s just amazing that you were able to have the presence of mind to call 911. And, the bunny story made me smile. Have a great time at the concert tonight. P.S. Love your nym.
Omnes Omnibus
@stuckinred: Anything or anyone who somehow associates any aspect of my life, beliefs, or background with BOB is a problem. Just sayin’.
stuckinred
@Omnes Omnibus: Yo, I apologized. The best I can do. Besides, we’ve already discussed the varying effectiveness of the officer corps in my time and yours.
Kyle
“Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate”.
Getting older is about realizing that for the large majority of us not born silver-spooned with the wealth and connections to fail upward (vid. the White House 2001-2009), your failures outweigh your successes, and likely always will. But it’s OK to accept being ordinary, given that the alternative is a miserable life constantly thrashing against yourself trying to be something you are not.
And at least you can be happy that you’re not a pest-douchebag like BOB.
Omnes Omnibus
@stuckinred: Apology accepted; it just took a minute.
PurpleGirl
@Maude: LOL
@ 131 Gina: LOL.
stuckinred
Pound the rock Dawgs. . .horseshit spot.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Speaking of noms.
OK. I am switching teams. I like the black unis of UCF, so, goooooo, um, whatever their mascot is!
Question for those watching the game: I really enjoy the commentating of Neal and Ware. It’s low-key without any of the forced convivial bullshit or stupid jokes of other commentators. Do y’all agree with me, or do you find their style boring?
@tim serbo: That’s how many ‘lakes’ we have as well!
Warren Terra
OK, so why was it amputated?
tim serbo
@asiangrrlMN: the 10,001 names of Tom Servo!
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: Oh, you mean like when the guy drops the pass and he says “pre-game jitters”?? Brilliant.
cermet
@tim serbo: Consider CoQ-10 (good for a weak heart and critical if you are already taking any type of statin – those meds reduce the liver’s ability to create your own CoQ-10 and this is a critical energy source for heart (and other) muscles))
Also, consider Niacin instead of standard statins- it will not only lower your (bad) LDL but can raise the (good) HDL by 40 -100%! Its cheap but it takes a few weeks (or for some people months) to get over the flushing but a small price to pay for its benifits (more effective than any statin and for most people, is safer.) Also, it lowers VLDL and IDL both of which are far worse than LDL. It has even been shown to remove arterial plaque – if you don’t know what these terms are, use the Wiki – it is your health and money.))
Just remember, at the required dose levels (and get that information) – niacin is deadly at too high a dose – other drugs or other niacin sources can damage the liver at these levels so you MUST talk to your doctor and get the liver tests (especially the first few months!) Never mix statins and niacin even if your doctor says ok – that is asking for trouble.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: They are the Black Knights.
Warren Terra
D’oh. I should have realized that certain phallus-related word that’s dangling (as it were) so temptingly in the update as comment-bait results in said comment getting Moderated. It’s a trap!
CaseyL
John, on the plus side, you’ve created a really amazing on-line community, one whose liveliness, humor, and compassion never fail to brighten my days. The special projects, the pet tales, the fund-raising are tributes to the community and to you. You mean a lot to us.
Also, I have three words: Food. Travel. Friends. These three things make life worth living, no matter what else is going on. Travel frequently, internationally if at all possible; then talk about your travels with friends, preferably over a wonderful meal.
Happy New Year!
Paris
I’m curious how you found the good thing going for you, did you google ‘penis amputation’ or something?
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: @stuckinred: Was listening to the CBS broadcast, but generally speaking I prefer understated from the commentators (accuracy and knowledge are nice too). The exception to that rule is Gus Johnson.
cermet
@Genine: I am very sorry for all that has happened to you and I really hope you the best – please study the causes and treatments – there are ways to help that MD’s don’t talk about unless YOU ASK – they are too busy and really, you are just someone they rarely see! So, the Wiki is your friend and the library might have books that cover some aspects. Best of luck!
Paris
@Warren Terra: I fell into it too. Drat! I didn’t know anatomical terms were considered bad words.
Peenis Peinis Peanis
Happy New Year.
stuckinred
@MattR: You guys never heard Larry Munson?
“He stepped on their faces with a hobnailed boot”
“There is going to be some property destroyed tonight”
“Hunker down one more time”
and the unforgettable
“Run Lindsey Run”
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: OK. Did not hear that. I must confess that my love for them is because they are not intrusive at all, and I can enjoy ‘the love of the game’ without them orally stomping all over the place. I don’t care what they actually say–as long as they keep it to a dull roar. Oh, and thanks on the mascot of the UCF team. With a name like Black Knights, how can I not root for them? (I root for any team wearing black. Well, almost any team).
ETA: But, they have gold pants, so that severely diminishes my love for their black jerseys. Goooo, Dawgs!
Mike Kay (Christine O'Donnell's Co-Witch)
HAPPY NEW YEAR’S
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
Mike Kay (Christine O'Donnell's Co-Witch)
@CaseyL:
thank you, thank you.
I appreciate being complimented, from time to time.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: you are on my shit list
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!
Violet
@MattR:
No worries. That is exactly what I thought and was even cracking myself up. I also thought, “This is why older people who live alone have those Medic-Alert bracelets.” It was scary. Fortunately the fall didn’t have dire consequences, but I’m a lot more careful in the shower now.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: It came three minutes after the game started.
Gina
@asiangrrlMN: Ah, and on the intertrons as well. Which makes my uninvited visual of him – sobbing quietly to himself in the bathroom, shower running, door locked and her yelling at him to hurry up already – just so…perfect!
sal
Well then, why was it amputated? /rimshot/
MattR
@stuckinred: @asiangrrlMN:
This is a pretty good summary. I don’t mind an announcer getting very excited about big plays and big moments, but I don’t need to hear Dick Vitale level hype the entire game.
PS. I also have a different standard for national broadcasters than I do for people like Munson who work on a team’s local broadcast.
stuckinred
A web site devoted to an announcer?/
Munson
Oh yea, he’s from Minnesota.
sb
@Genine: Did we already pick a best post for 2010? Because this is my nominee.
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: Did you not see I switched? Sheesh!
@Mike Kay (Christine O’Donnell’s Co-Witch): There is no complement to you, I might say. You are beyond peer.
Ruckus
@stuckinred:
Haven’t heard the MB in a while and have to say this was never my favorite. Appros but not my fav.
@Violet:
I’m going to try to one up you here. I’ve had a bad hip for 54 years. But the last 5 have been the worst. And it started with a bee sting. Didn’t know that I’d been stung as this was the first time. Within about 1 1/2 hr my hip was swollen and stuff I won’t describe was oozing out. Parents took me to ER (we were on vacation!) where I was told I am strongly allergic to bees.
The moral? You can live with a bad hip, it’s just not fun. Can’t sleep on that side. Sometimes almost impossible to walk. Chronic pain is fun.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
I disagree.
What doesn’t kill you just doesn’t kill you.
lol
The Daily Mail article is a bit misleading. (Surprise!)
The guy didn’t get his penis amputated when he wasn’t supposed to. It got correctly amputated because he had penile cancer that threatened his life.
The problem is that doctors repeatedly missed the cancer in it and thought it was some minor inflammation. By the time they noticed the cancer, it had progressed far enough that they had to amputate to save his life.
stuckinred
@MattR: I annoy the shit out of my wife by being annoyed by announcers!
tim serbo
@cermet: thanks very much. i’ll talk it over with my cardiologist–who, by the way, is brown and has a funny name and might well have a different imaginary sky-daddy than real americans. somehow, i don’t really mind.
stuckinred
@Ruckus: Me neither but the sister of a friend of mine plays flute for them. Norda Mullen. I did love Go Now
MattR
@tim serbo: I think Dana Carvey approves of your choice.
PNW Warrior Woman
Oh honey…I love it when you’re funny as hell like this. You keep me coming back as a regular reader. Thank you.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Right there with you. Gus is tolerable, but barely to me. I just want background ambiance.
@stuckinred: Ah. I missed it. I was still watching the other game and had to switch to my desktop to watch this game.
@Gina: Ha! I like it very much.
Genine
Thanks all!
One more good thing: I’ve been writing a lot this year, too. Yay! I guess 35 is the magic year. lol
Life is good.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Fortunately, we can all live a happy life vicariously through President Obama.
.
.
jayjaybear
@russell:
Or “I AM NOT MARRIED TO BRICK OVEN BILL!!”
See? I feel better already.
denali
Hey John,
Just wanted to thank you for your blog in 2010. Tunch is my hero, especially around dishwashers!
Now, find yourself some sunshine somewhere and have your favorite drink! Happy new year!
tim serbo
@MattR: that’s hilarious. because it’s true.
Genine
@sb:
Aww! Thank you, sb. That’s so sweet. It’s nice to have the positive feedback. At times, my optimism isn’t well received. But at other times, it is.
It’s all good.
General Stuck
@Genine:
Wonderful comment, Genine. Pain is the great teacher, and most grace arrives on the other side of it. Looks like you have learned well.
Happiest New Year :)
Ruckus
@MattF:
Even I can’t get that far down before I kick myself in the ass.
Evolved Deep Southerner
Come on DAWGS! We’re dominating except for points! Come the hell ON!
Violet
@Genine:
Awesome post. Thanks for posting. I hope 2011 allows you to continue to build on the good things that did come your way in 2010.
@Ruckus:
Wow, that’s crazy. I hope I’m not stuck with pain forever. It’s getting old. I am going to try a few new things in 2011 to treat it. I hope that life won’t be quite as crazy as it has been during the holiday season and that I can get it back in shape.
4jkb4ia
2010 was just a lost year. I did not even keep track of all the civil liberties outrages that happened. Somewhere in a TNC thread, I was painfully confronted by how far behind I was.
I am very glad that John has the use of his car. I am sorry not to have offered him sympathy in any of these dreadful things but only in one pointless flame war with FDL. I know that if I come here, pointless flame wars and “Manic Progressive” threads aside, John will make me smile and laugh. This year I had more enjoyment of several emotionally safe and calming places on the Internet, of which this is one. (What? Calming? Balloon Juice?)
So in 2011 John should have the constant delight that he gives us from his comment section and we should all survive, defined by no impeachment or government shutdowns. My sister-in-the-CBO’s wife is pregnant, we have just learned, so they are not letting these folks curl them into a little ball with fear of the future, especially since the Democrats in Congress don’t consistently have a clue either.
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: Carlton reminds me of Tron Jackson.
well shit
SIA
@Genine: Thank you for that. Externals don’t always dictate inner contentment. You are inspiring.
ETA: And yes, I know, there are parameters re the truth of the quote, so I won’t be needing any examples.
srv
John, you have so much to look forward to in 2011. We won’t have to wonder anymore what it would have been like in 1861 if the South hadn’t seceded.
4jkb4ia
@Genine:
I appreciated reading that. You should go from strength to strength.
cermet
@tim serbo: Your welcome – by the way, I should add never take over-the-counter slow release or timed released niacin – those things don’t work and can be very toxic to the liver. If you use niacin, use only pure niacin (use the web to get a source.)
MD’s know near zero on this subject so please study it yourself before talking to the MD – they’ll realize you are interested in your own care and take more time with your case. Get well and yes, even for a damaged heart that is very possible.
David Brooks (not that one)
Sorry, John. I seem to have stolen all your good luck.
After a Christmas 2009 reaching crisis in our relationship with a new daughter-in law, we: had successful counseling, went to Fenway for the first time since exiled from Boston, visited my mother in England just after her 90th birthday, heard a week later that she had died (it was past her time), had all three kids and their spouses fly over (making lunch on the day of the funeral the happiest day of the year), had a beautiful new granddaughter born and saw a gorgeous green meteor on the way home from the hospital, um, that’s about it. And, at 61, my deteriorated discs continue to not disable me, and both cars (2002 Focuses) are running like champs, touch wood, under 11 hours to go.
I’ll take a year like that any time.
JPL
@srv: Maybe this time, the south can just be allowed to secede. Florida won’t be happy because in order to visit disney, a northerner would need a passport and the elderly wouldn’t be allowed to have medicare. GA would lose the CDC and a few military bases and they would continue the race to the bottom in education. Good times.
Ruckus
@tim serbo:
Glad you’re OK. And still or have gained a positive attitude. That’s what seems to make most of the crap seem like just another day for me. I may sound like one of the least positive but that’s just talk. And my talk is cheap. But the attitude is priceless.
4jkb4ia
@Jade Jordan:
Hooray! Of course they are not playing in the very prestigious Compass Bowl.
Ruckus
@Violet:
Really was just a parable to let you (and me!) know that there is always someone who has it worse. Of course that means there is always someone who has it better as well. So that leaves me stuck in the middle.
stuckinred
@JPL: All that talk is just so much bullshit. Georgia, like all the rest, will cash that federal check every time.
4jkb4ia
@candace:
Well, in the wise words of Rabbi Nachum Stavisker, everything is everything. Anger isn’t something you should cultivate. But it is possible to err by having too little anger, too. The article where Alan Morinis wrote that I think is all over the Internet by now.
stuckinred
@4jkb4ia:
When the truth is found
to be lies
and all the joy
within you dies
Violet
@Ruckus:
Yeah, in comparison I don’t have much to complain about. It’s just frustrating that it won’t get better. As I’m usually a very active person I find being so limited extremely challenging. I haven’t been to the gym in ages because there is almost nothing I can do there. I’m now “allowed” to walk 15 minutes a day. That’s it. Ugh. I really want to get back to running but I don’t see that happening any time soon.
I still count my blessings. It hasn’t been a bad year. Just very, very hectic. I have a lot to be thankful for and am trying to focus on that.
cckids
@Brick Oven Bill: Well, I guess the rest of us can just be happy that you are not in our lives in any meaningful way, can’t we?
Jim, Once
@cermet:
Thanks for this. All very good to know. Am on niacin/aspirin per dr’s orders (refused the statins – baaad family history with them), and didn’t know all this. Again, thanks.
4jkb4ia
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:
Same to you, if you are here to see it!
Mr Stagger Lee
Is it me or does the Miami Hurricanes playing like they could give a flying %$%. How about that rumor Charlie Weiss may go to Florida as an offensive coordinator?
JCT
Hope, folks — every Jan 1 we get a replenished supply of it.
I retain some belief that the Congress will not dissolve into an endless clusterfuck and call me a hopeless Obot, but I still have faith in Obama’s beliefs, goals and motivations if not necessarily his execution. But hey — still time for learning.
Personally, my better half needs his health back, my oldest needs to get her post-graduate life to assume some sort of “form” and my youngest needs to get into college. And hey — I get to decide whether to completely change my career path and move from the East Coast to the Southwest. So looking on the “hopeful” side a year from now all will be different. Maybe embracing this change at nearly 50 is the way to go…. or then again maybe I’m throwing my career down the drain.
And this place has been a guaranteed grin at least once a day — just can’t beat it. But we need MOAR TUNCH.
Happy and Healthy New Year to all — heads up and eyes forward!
Ross Hershberger
2010 was a mix for me/us. 2 cars destroyed and replaced. I got another project published. Was Googled a lot. Got my job under control. Discovered the family nest egg had hatched and flown.
Oh, and in case I missed it being quoted above:
You’re only as old as you feel
Cat Lady
Since 2009, which was teh suxxor, I’ve added a bad left shoulder (some kind of rotator cuff issue) and a bad right elbow (tendinitis but on the inside the joint). I fell over one of the cats and thought just I banged my right knee, but it’s making a clicking sound and then aches for a while, so uh oh. I’ve had a bad left ankle since a skiing accident 20 years ago, so for 2011, I’m down to 6 good joints out of 12. They shoot horses, don’t they?
Jim, Once
@sb:
Add my vote.
JCT
@cckids: Wait, you mean the dog crap I scrape off my shoe after a walk isn’t a meaningful part of my life?
Sure fits old BOB.
tim serbo
@Ruckus: my attitude has taken me by surprise. i tend to see the hole in any donut, and that hasn’t gone away–to the dismay of the chirpy social worker at the hospital. and lord knows i’m the choleric type. it’s just that setbacks and shitheads don’t take root in my head as easily. gratitude and relief at having a second chance have crowded them out. weird.
asiangrrlMN
@Mr Stagger Lee: It’s definitely not you. I quit watching after ND scored three touchdowns. This other game, the Whatever Bowl on ESPN is weird.
Ross Hershberger
@Cat Lady:
Possibly Medial Epicondylitis. AKA Golfer’s Elbow.
I got lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) in March. It ain’t no joke. And think hard before you let them inject Cortisone into it.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: It’s the goddamn Liberty Bowl. It’s been played since 1959. Sheesh.
4jkb4ia
@Tim Serbo: I am very glad to hear that you are probably going to be all right.
@stuckinred/Jefferson Airplane: ??
Ming
Friends and family dying is no small thing, John. It’s a testament to your large heart and close relationships for you to feel this way. FWIW, here. (apologies if I got it from BJ!).
Happy new year to you and all the Juicers!
jeff
John–I’m about the same age, and everything fell apart recently and I’m permanently disabled and I’m not handling it very admirably, I confess. My experience is that the unlucky find out they’re unlucky about now, and the lucky will get luckier for the next 2 to 3 decades of life. That’s just how it goes.
stuckinred
@4jkb4ia:
Rabbi Masharak
omg, it’s hope not joy!
Do not drink during this clip.
Cat Lady
@Genine:
Yay, you’re off injured reserve! Team O-bot needs you back.
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: You’re so adorable when you get all hetted up. You are right, though. It’s the Whatever Liberty Bowl on ESPN. Happy?
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: Man, 3-3? Three to fucking THREE? Come ON, God damn it.
I hope Murray’s working all of his picks out on this game. Don’t know what that’s about.
Why the fuck can’t we try RUNNING the damn ball for a little while, make them stop that? Then pick their ass apart downfield.
Shit. Any team that has some kind of directional in their name – “South,” “Central,” “North,” etc. – prima fascie cannot be worth a shit. What are we DOING?
If we do not make second-half adjustments and beat this crowd by 17+, I will be disappointed.
Jim, Once
@Cat Lady:
Welcome to my world. Every single thing you’ve listed here is mine, too – not to mention hand pain that requires wearing funny gloves. But, you know, I just don’t care – every day above ground is a good day. And I love the two things I learned here today: FIDO (Fuck it – drive on), and “life’s tough – wear a helmet.” I’ve had – and continue to have – a life so wonderful no one could ask for better. And soon I’ll be going over to my son’s house for New Year’s and enjoy the absolute beauty of my one year old granddaughter – who ALWAYS greets me with me big, big hugs and kisses.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN:
:)
Happy as a hog rootin in manure!
Ruckus
@Violet:
And so it goes. I have chronic pain but other than being annoying, my hip doesn’t usually keep me from doing anything, unless it gets really bad. And then I know that most likely it will at some point get enough better that I can deal with it. Hope that yours gets better.
tim serbo
@jeff: sounds like you’ve got good reasons not to be cheerful. i hope you have some friends you can count on and can keep buggering on until the tide turns.
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: Caleb is suspended again, Washaun is simply limited with a lack of breakaway speed and Carlton Thomas is a smurf. It doesn’t matter what the name of the other team is, shit Colorado totally sucks and they beat us. Look for Durham and Tavares to crank it in the second half as they push AJ deep and take advantage of the double team. Their QB is hurtin and I expect them to know his dick in the dirt most rickey-tic.
stuckinred
@Ruckus: It’s why I swim 7 days a week.
Jim, Once
@jeff:
I’m so sorry to hear this. My “baby brother” – twelve years younger than me – had to go on Social Security disability recently, thanks to a really nasty disease called pseudo-gout. He, too, had a very tough time adapting to a life without a job he loved, and days and days of pain. He found a psychologist who was able to give him the tools to appreciate what is good in his life, and I am so impressed with what he has made of them. May you find the same help. Best, best wishes, Jeff.
Tim
OMG. A post in which Cole mentions his penis. I am over the moon. :P
stuckinred
@stuckinred: knock
asiangrrlMN
@jeff: Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It’s a huge adjustment to make, no two ways about it. Sorry that things sucked so much this year. I hope they improve vastly in the next.
@Evolved Deep Southerner: BREATHE! Don’t forget to breathe!
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: If we lose this one, I will know what it feels like to have my dick removed because of a medical error.
JR in WV
Wow, John, I’m also sorry to hear the compilation of woe.
We’ve had a couple of problems, like the new spring of water in our basement, and the roof I replaced. And the VW Jetta, which had the struts that hold the trunk lid up fail, which in turn allowed the trunk lid to cold-cock me!
A good friend’s house burned down. Now the neighborhood is building her a better one, so that’s really not so bad. Money is always a problem, in some way, for almost everyone.
I spent a couple of weeks with a friend I hired to help, we covered the area beside the house with rubber roofing material to divert surface water. There was much sweat, and carrying of heavy stuff. No room for a machine like a bobcat or tractor, so it was all pick and shovel work, and buckets of gravel.
So far no new water springing up in the basement.
Then this fall we started replacing roof. 3 friends, who do that kind of work for a living, and me. No machines, just hand tools…
Hang in there, John. The Sube will last for years, and your shoulder is getting better, like my wife’s is. And the dogs love you! Just like ours do. Now I have to get ready to go to a New Year’s Eve party with the neighbors who are helping build a house for an unfortunate friend who lost everything when her house burned. Sweet.
Drop me a line sometime if you want…
Best of luck in ’11,
JR in Lincoln County
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: There’s a light year left in this tilt. Hang tough!
You know that there are plenty of folks that would like to see Richt become a full time preacher?
Ruckus
@tim serbo:
Not so weird. I used to say I was a glass half full sort but with the last few years I’ve gotten to be a glass 1/16 full sort. Still look on the bright side, I just now also see the other side as well.
stuckinred
Great start.
Genine
@Cat Lady:
Thanks, Cat Lady! I’m ready. ** *puts on helmet, pads and jersey.* **
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN:
Folks, now here’s the story ’bout Minnie the Moocher,
She was a red-hot hootchie-cootcher,
She was the roughest, toughest frail,
But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.
Genine
@jeff:
Sending positive vibes your way, Jeff. Wishing your wonderful new experiences in the new year.
Which is less than ten hours away.
Anne Laurie
@tim serbo: __
@Genine: __
Thanks to both of you for sharing. I’m going to save your comments as inspiration for the future!
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: Ha! I can always count on you for an apt quote.
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN:
Cab Calloway!
Anne Laurie
Incidentally, Cole, you forgot to mention that Rosie entered your life this year.
Not sure whether she goes in the “postives” or “negatives” column, though!
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: He’d be good at it.
asiangrrlMN
@stuckinred: I knew this one!
Ruckus
@stuckinred:
I tried that a coupe of years ago and found that another incident has reared it’s ugly head once again and I can’t swim 50 yards with out major shoulder pain. And that’s after surgery and over a year of PT.
Church Lady
@cermet: I’m on Niacin too, for the last 3 months. I’m taking 500 mg. flush free Niacin daily, along with 1 low dose aspirin. The two together seem to be working and I’ve not once had any kind of problem with flushing. I go back to the doctor next month for blood work, and I’m hoping my cholesterol levels are better.
stuckinred
@Ruckus: Damn! I worry about the repetitive stress of 7 days a week but not enough slow down yet.
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: I really like him but not that part.
cermet
@Church Lady: If the LDL levels have dropped a great deal, your lucky (and 40 – 60% increase of HDL isroutine for many),but most flush free doesn’t work for most people and after time, can kill a good part of the liver (I exclude in my remarks prescription flush free (I think it is called Niaspan)), the problem stuff is over-the-counter. Good luck and if the results aren’t good be careful with the dose as it gets to two grams a day – that is a trip wire level for flush free for many people. Again, the Wiki has a great site on the subject.
Ruckus
@stuckinred:
I believe that exercise is good for you, it’s just you have to do it in moderation. No power lifting, 100 meter dash kind of stuff but walking, bike riding, swimming, these things seem to be good. Blood flowing, muscles loosened, and all that. I just can’t do it at the same level as I used to.
Genine
@tim serbo:
Right on, Tim. :-) I hear ya!
Genine
@Anne Laurie:
Thanks, Anne Laurie. :-)
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: Fuck almighty. Is this game like watching two mules fight over a fucking turnip, or what?
stuckinred
@Evolved Deep Southerner: We are just not very good.
stuckinred
@stuckinred: Ok, no way Murray can keep being this bad.
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: Yes We Can!!!
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: We did not show up. The SEC hasn’t represented worth a fuck so far in bowl season. It’s bad news when your game’s not over yet and you start thinking about South Carolina beating Florida State.
Sko Hayes
John, please read this comment @Genine: , and realize how good you have it.
Your life is what you make of it- you can sit around and complain, and go back to bed because you don’t know how to work a garage door when the motor goes out, or you can appreciate what you’ve got and open the garage door with your own two hands.
Rather than mourn those we have lost, we should celebrate their lives and what we shared with them.
Stop sweating the small stuff.
JCT
@tim serbo: Good job Tim Serbo, you played the “game” the right way — as we say, time is muscle. One of the worse case scenarios is when someone plays “hero” and sits at home waiting for the pain to go away — always call EMS, being “embarrassed” in the ED with a false alarm always beats being dead. Glad my old friends at CPMC took care of you — did all my training there.
BTW, what happened to your dad and grandad is frighteningly common, about 30% of first MIs are fatal. Similar numbers for stroke like the one that took my father. After he sat at home with *his* chest pain and permanently damaged his heart…
Boy I love these “got to the hospital on time” stories!
Jay C
Well, I was going over the good/bad, positive/negative what-happened-in-2010 stuff, and figured that if I started going over everything and writing it down, the comment would probably stretch out so long everyone would get bored long before I got to the point…..
So: I’ll just stick to wishing everyone
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Evolved Deep Southerner
@stuckinred: If you want good commentary on Georgia football, ever, check out Get The Picture. I do – and don’t – look forward to hearing the aftermath of this one there.
Evolved Deep Southerner
Son of a cocksucking, motherfucking BITCH!
Svensker
Hence the joys of religion and faith. Srsly. I’m not Stoic enough to say no.
LanceThruster
It is said hard work never killed anyone but I’m not taking any chances.
Here’s hoping for a happy and prosperous New Year to all.
D-Chance.
In the positive category, I can state that my penis was not amputated because of a medical error. So I got that going for me.
Um… thank God for… small miracles?
Evolved Deep Southerner
@Svensker: Svensker, that’s all well and good, but GEORGIA just lost to fucking CENTRAL FUCKING FLORIDA, dude. And you’re talking this “religion and faith” bullshit? Get your priorities straight. Life is a God damn hellhole that no one can climb out of, and hell is nothing but monstrous devils breaking wind in your face both night and day.
jeff
Hey! Thanks for the good wishes from y’all! I appreciate it, and I’m not going to have to stop working–just probably have to move somewhere car-friendly. I do appreciate the kind words. My point was that I had no idea before this how much I assumed that disabled people cheerfully made peace with this kind of shit! No doubt many, many people do, but they’re braver souls than I’ll ever be.
Enjoy the football.
Genine
@Genine:
Oops. Just noticed a typo in my comment. I meant confident, not confidence.
Oh, well. :-)
Genine
@jeff:
Good luck with that, Jeff. I imagine some people in those situations made peace with things a day at a time.
Rekster
I’ve been away for a couple of days and haven’t had time to read all the comments on this thread. Nevertheless, I wish you hadn’t mentioned that “Swedish Penis lopping off”.
All you are doing is giving ammo to all the wingnuts to say, “told you so” about National Health Care and now we won’t have to worry only about “death panels” we will have to listen to “cocks being lopped off” due to bad medical care.
:)
bob h
“I’ve also grown concerned that this is what getting old is all about”
A big part of growing old, starting at about 60 or so, is the falling away of friends and loved ones. It starts to resemble a massacre.
delosgatos
OK, this wins the “when I say ‘Pink elephant’ don’t think of a pink elephant” award for 2010, for me…