Recently there has been a lot of criticism of professional baseball umpires. WHAT is new? Every call is a judgment call. Ever since I can remember baseball umpires have always made bad calls. It is like the weatherman. Most of the time he is wrong. Occasionally he gets a call right. Like when it is pouring down rain and our local weatherman predicts 51% chance of rain. After all they can’t be completely wrong There is always that percentage. Umpires have a 50% chance on every call they make. It will either be WRONG, (which will be remembered), or right which will not be remembered. And let’s not forget whatever the call it will be wrong from one perspective, and right, (regardless of how wrong it is), to another’s point of view. We now have the technology to eliminate those blind men behind the plate, at the bases, etc. COMPUTERS. With Cameras, as small as they are, and as portable, WE can have the computers make the calls, a lot quicker, and more accurately than mere men. I guess then everyone will be yelling, “Kill the computer”, or “Computer are your cameras blind?” Of course we could return to the olden days of baseball. You know the days in early baseball, where the Umpire brought his char on the field sat off to the side, and called the game. The good thing about this was the crowd could over rule a call the Umpire made. Or we could just make sure the umpires we have are thoroughly trained, and tested. Give them a 3 strike rule. Three wrong calls and you are fired. I really like the choice of one umpire with the crowd able to over rule his call. But I guess that is impractical. Thus the only choice we have is COMPUTER UMPIRES. That Is How I See It. Views: 1,387
Author: Wayne Lawrence
Quaker State 400, Yawn
Quaker State 400. In Kentucky? Boy is my face red. One would think the Quaker State 400 would actually be run in Pennsylvania, (the Quaker State). It figures with NASCAR running things. Did everyone enjoy the “race”? Beside the Busch brothers. I found this race about as exciting as a snail race we had one day when I was a kid. On second thought the snail race was a much more contested event. And. Guess what. No one sat in their cars for hours, only to not see the race. I can’t say the traffic was NASCAR, or Burton Smith’s fault. But it does show a lack of preparation. By Both Parties. If first impressions are as important as most people claim. I’m afraid Kentucky’s Speedway is in a heap of hurt. Question: Did anyone check with the Kentucky Department of Transportation. They make traffic studies. Do I have an answer for the traffic problem. Not without the proper authorization to make studies. Maybe then I would find no problem. Maybe best move is to MOVE the track. But let’s be honest the location was not the only problem. The big problem was the racing. Reminds you of Formula 1. No passes on track for the lead. I like to see R-A-C-I-N-G, not just a parade of cars. I don’t blame the drivers I’m sure they were doing all they could to make a race of it. Racing just didn’t happen. As for me I would prefer to have another road course added instead of what we had at Sparta. Maybe they could change that speedway into a dirt track and invite NASCAR back next year. That is about the only thing I can see would bring the fans back to Sparta. Perhaps the ones who were stuck in traffic were the lucky ones. They probably saw more action, with people jockeying to improve their spot in traffic, than the fans at the track saw. That Is How I See It. find find find Views: 807
End of Smartphones?
With the announcement by Verizon of the end of the unlimited data plans, on the heels of AT&T and T-mobile’s announcement of the same. This leaves Sprint as the lone major carrier still offering unlimited data. The big draw of the SMART PHONE, is the unlimited data plan. Instead of unlimited they propose you pay by the GIGABYTE. I suppose most of you know exactly how many gigabytes you and your family will use each month. I’m not that smart. It is sort of like when you go to a pre-pay gas station for a fill up. You have to guess how much your tank will hold. I can’t guess that close. So I don’t buy my gas there. For me it will be the same if I have to make a guess of how many gigabytes my family and I will use during any given month. We rely on this plan for a lot of things. But do we use 2 gigabyte. or 10 gigabyte a month. Like I said in an earlier post “I HATE CHANGE”. This move only complicates my life. If it comes down to having to guess how many gigiabytes I use I will just go back to using my cell phone for phone calls. I did that for many years, and I can do it again. Of course it will be harder on the teenagers, on my plan. But think of the money I’ll save. At least $1200.oo a year. So shall we lay to rest our smart phones? YES!!!! I will. I don’t need my life anymore complicated. As for those of you who are so addicted to your phone, may your wallets get deeper so you can pay the higher cost involved. But you can fight this by doing what I will do and “Just say no!” To a pre-pay per gigabyte plan. If everyone does this. Guess what the companies will most likely do. That Is How I See It. Views: 414
Passenger Arrested For Being Drunk
Look out America! Indiana is at it again. DEC. 2008. Indianapolis Indiana. We all know if we have had too much to drink. We also know what the Public Service Announcements, (PSA) tell us to do in this situation. Have a DESIGNATED DRIVER. One night in INDIANA a lady after parytying too hard found her in the situation she knew she could not drive, (legally or possibly anyway). Being responsible enough to seek out someone to drive her home, she found a volunteer. And now, as Paul Harvey would say, is the rest of the story. As this lady and her designated driver were on the way to her hone, an officer of the law noticed the vehicle had a license plate light out, Of course he had to pull the car over. That is when he discovered the driver’s license was not valid, (perhaps, expired, or not issued, I don’t know. This lady admitted she had too much to drink couldn’t drive. The officer had no choice to arrest her for PUBLIC INTOXICATION . Now let’s back up here a minute. This means if you are sitting in your car (which is private property, you are actually not in private property but public property????, I’m not a real drinker only maybe have one beer when with friends, usually I drink my Coca-Cola. But this doesn’t seem right to me. On a side note I know of one poor chap who was having a halloween poker party, He had a car for sale which was sitting on his property near the highway. Kids came by and were throwing eggs at the car. He of course had been drinking while playing cards. He decided he would move the car. Only thing someone had siphoned off the gas. he left the keys in the car, went to his garage to get some gas. Put about a gallon in the tank. as he approached the car door a State or County Mountie pulled up with lights flashing and proceeded to issue him a DUI. (He was at his car with the ignition key in the car not running, as he has just put gas in it. On his own propery) Another unconfirmed story I heard of in this same county. A guy was riding his lawnmower, mowing his own yard. When an officer, came up to him and issued him a ticket for violation of the” open container law” while being on his mower. If you aren’t aware of the open container law. It means no alcoholic beveridge can be in a moving vehicle unless it is in the trunk or some where the driver cannot reach. Any way back to the story. The lady was convicted of Public Intoxication. She appealed this ruling. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled 4-1 to uphold the conviction. According to their ruling the justices stated the conviction followed the law. Because she admitted to being Drunk. Cars traveling on public roads are considered to be public places. According to the case prosecutor The Supreme Court made the right ruling. The law needs changing. I think it was a miscarriage of justice. She did what the government’s PSA said by getting a designated driver. So what does this mean? We all know the police need no real reason to pull you over. But what about real public transportation like Taxi’s. It seems to me come New Year’s any Taxi can be pulled over and the responsible person who called the cab to help save his and other people’s lives could end up in jail for PUBLIC INTOXICATION. This year Indiana enacted 300 laws. My sources tell me the local newspapers nor TV stations have listed them. But the state will tell you ignorance is no excuse. If you had 300 new laws dumped on you, could you remember them all. In closing I ask YOU. Is it fair for the GOVERNMENT to instruct you to do something in a particular circumstance the arrest you for doing it? That Is How I See It Views: 663
Trevor Bayne, Kurt Busch
Re: The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Restrictor plate racing is pretty much of a HO-HUM affair. However I did tune in to see how Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne would do on that track for his 2nd appearance. It started out as expected with Bayne running in the top 5. Then by some curious means Bayne paired up with Kurt Busch. This pairing up is to give additional PUSH, to the lead car and resulting in more speed for both pusher, and pushee. A Very popular thing for drivers to do at the so-called SIPER tracks. Kurt Busch is a seasoned driver he knows what he is doing. Therefore I would like to know why instead of pushing Bayne from the high side as most all drivers who were locked with the car ahead did, Why was Kurt Bucsh pushing in the middle or below of Bayne’s car and on the down side of the track. I’m Sure, Busch can come up with a reason (excuse) for this. I guess he will be the only one who really knows. It could have been mis-communication , or maybe he couldn’t hold his line for physical or mechanical reasons. But looking at it purely from a spactatorial view. I say it appeared to be deliberate, and a way to assure the young driver didn’t make the veterans look bad again. After all he wasn’t running for points, Bayne will be his usual polite self and not so much as suggest the possibility of this being anything other than a racing accident. But after watching it and again and again on replay, IT SURE APPEARED TO BE DELIBERATE. Did he? Or didn’t he. Only he and perhaps his team will know for sure. That Is How I See It. have been Views: 627
Hope You Had a Happy 4th
The 4th of July when we celebrate the signing of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. The beginning of our country. The Pilgrims came to our shores to escape religious persecution. In fact our 1 st Amendment states.: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Yet as we celebrate our DAY OF FREEDOM, we must look at the rights we have lost,: and there are many of them. Remember just recently our 4th Amendment, barring illegal entry of our homes, was struck down by the Supreme Court, by upholding a ruling that police no longer need a warrant to barge into our homes, and we lost our right to defend our homes from police action. Sometime ago our SUPREME COURT sided with a minority led by the ACLU (Anti Christian Lawyers Union). When they errantly interpreted our 1 st amendment. What they are missing. The SEPARATION of STATE and CHURCH. Was actually meant to protect our right OF, (Not FROM as your local ACLU would have you believe) religion. You remember at the top of this post I said the Pilgrims cane here to flee religious persecution. Well that was what was happening. EXAMPLE: Some states were mandating the prevailing sect of that area, or of the ruling class. (Yes we did not have royalty. But like now we have the wealthy who can make the most noise, and thus assumed to be the leaders of the people). Perhaps in one State, let us say predominately Methodist. This sect would be essentially the state adopted religion. While a Baptist minister might be jailed for preaching the Baptist beliefs in this state. In a neighboring State, The state may favor the Baptist, and the Catholic priest may be in jail. Do you see what I am getting at? Separation of State and Church was meant to keep the STATE from mandating a religious sect. (Religion, if you will). Not to remove GOD from our country. We hold these truths to be that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. CREATOR as Dictionary.com explains. The Creator, GOD. Hope you had a happy 4 th of July. That Is How I See It. Views: 219
NBA Lockout
Here we go again. Multimillionaire vs Multimillionaires, (or billionaires), who knows, who cares. The NBA claims the league lost $300 million this past season. The league will tell you it is the players fault. The players will say it’s the owners fault. I’ll take the blame. I haven’t been to a professional game in years, therefore it must be my fault because I didn’t pay to watch a bunch of overpaid people play a game I would play for free. No! I don’t take advantage of watching them on TV. Will they never learn? We had the NBA lockout in what (1998), then to get people back they created “SUPER STARS’, By allowing certain players to not follow the rules, and blasting their names on anything, and everything. These were decent players before, (Let me explain. I look at the overall skills of a player to rate them. If a player scores 30 points a game but puts up 60 shots; does this mean he is a great player. If a player is allowed to go from one end of the floor to the other with only 3 dribbles, is he a good ball handler. The answer in my opinion is NO!) The fact that professional basketball is not real BASKETBALL, but comparative to professional wrestling. They give what the so-called fans want. That’s OK it is merely a business, BIG BUSINESS, but business. In the NBA’s greed, they started raising ticket, and licensing fees. Then the players said Hey I want some of that. And I have no quarrel here. What we have here is: The NBA owns the company. The players contract with different teams for the most money they can get. It is just business. Who cares? Will we not be able to feed our kids if the two can’t reach agreement. Probably we would have more money in our pockets. I suggest if you want to see exciting BASKETBALL take in a grade school, (or as some of the upper class prefer elementary school), games, Jr high or middle school, or high school. Or a nearby division 2 or 3 College game. It won’t cost you nearly as much, and you will most likely see a more competitive game than the NBA will offer. And I’m sure your school and community could use the money. That Is How I See It. high school merely Views: 719
Musty Tylenol
Today I read Johnson & Johnson announced another Tylenol recall. This recall is due to a “musty odor”. Now the fact that McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit of Johnson & Johnson is making the recall is not too surprising as this is not the first time they have issued a recall on Tylenol. This recall is for Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets. Total recall is 60,912 bottles of 225 caplets. That is 13.705,200 caplets affected by this recall, prompted by “a small number of reports” of a musty smell. The odor (apparently not new to Tylenol) was found in the past to “2,4,6-tribromoanisole. (2,4,6-Tribromoanisole is a chemical brominated derivative of Anisole, used as fungicide). At least that is my understanding of the responsible for the odor. In 2010 J&J recalled over the counter products. involving this same chemical which was used to treat wooden pallets, which were used to transport and store the product. In 2010 and 2011 Pfizer recalled Lipitor after reports of an odor linked to a third party supplier of bottles which had been exposed to this chemical. So this contamination is nothing new drug manufacturers The part I find funny is timeliness of the recall. I can’t say what relationship the manufacture date, and time of resale is. These Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets were apparently made in February of 2009. That is over 2 years ago. Do they make these medicines that far in advance they would just now be hitting the store shelves? I don’t know. It just seems most of the caplets would have already been used or disposed of by now. I just looked at a bottle of Ibuprofen, I purchased about a month ago and it’s expiration date is February of 2012. That Is How I See It. Views: 3,123
I Hate Change
Have you ever noticed when you have a good computer program, the publisher will try to make it better, but it doesn’t work as well. I have had that experience many times. The first one that jumps to my mind is PRINT ARTIST. Print Artist was an affordable program which let you make greeting cards, business cards, stationary, letterhead, etc, etc. I used it a lot. I had flower shops, and small retail businesses who would call me when one of their customers wanted a personalized birthday card, or anniversary car, or get well card, in return they would put my little sign up which included other things like website building, etc. This was before all the cookie cutter sites went up. When companies thought a thousand dollars for a website was a bargain. Then one day the publisher decided to make it better (?). All they accomplished was making it more difficult to use. There was nothing more you could do with it than you could with the original. Oh, yes it cost a little more too. I had friends who upgraded a couple of times. The eventually migrated to another program too. When I was in high school our class had about 21 students, and then there was me, But we learned more than the kids at the big school in the county which had about 150 students in a class. Then they came up with school consolidation. What a big mistake. Oh yes you had a better offering of classes, and a couple of sports more to participate in. I visited one school when my sons were wrestling, I was told the freshman class that year had 1,000 students. That is just too ridiculous. With the small schools you knew everyone in your school. You generally played your sports together since you were small. At our county’s big school with 150 kids in the class they didn’t know all their classmates. I got around the classes not offered at my school by going to big school for summer classes. As an example let us look at basketball in our county. At one time we had 10 schools scattered throughout the count. We had an “A” team, and a “B’ team. Each team consisted of 12 players. (subs included). Usually 4 cheerleaders, and a couple of “student managers” who kept statistics, tended to injuries, kept the uniforms in shape, and swept the gym floor. That makes what 30 students involved with basketball, per school. Take that times the 10 schools, we had 300 kids playing basketball. Then came CONSOLIDATION. Our 10 schools became 3. With the same number (30) per school participating in basketball, we were left with 210 kids with nothing to do but get in trouble. (Then our leaders wanted to know why we had more kids in trouble). With the small schools we had age old rivalries, not only the county schools but other nearby schools. The bigger schools developed rivalries, but nothing like with the small schools. They were a sense of pride for the towns. Everyone attended a basketball, football, or baseball game. After consolidation. The pride was lost. As if this was not bad enough. Someone about 12 years ago came up with the idea of CLASS sports, (Aren’t we supposedly a classless country?) Which killed all rivalries, a decreased interest in sports, lower attendance, and now at our larger schools the coaches practically have to go around and ask students to participate. Parents have to insure the younger athletes have a way to travel the 20-25 or more miles to practice. And of course with the CLASS system travel to games is outlandish. One instance that come to mind is Football sectionals. The farthest we would travel for a sectional football game was about 2o miles. Now the first game you play may be a hundred miles away. I missed one because I got off work at 6 pm the game started at 8 pm. (not a problem if you only have to go 25 miles, but if you have a 2+ hour drive to the game. you have to eat while driving. The game gets over around 10 pm another 2+ hours to get home, and I had to be at work at 6 am. Oh yes I had to wait for the team bus to arrive at our school. The kids always stopped at at McDonald’s or somewhere to eat after the game. Of course this takes time for them to give all their orders, and preparation of the orders, eat, and rehash the game. then get back on the bus, to continue the trip home. The bus got home around 1:45 am. Remember I had to be at work at 6 am for another 12 hour day. I could go on and on (and I have made this too long already and only covered 3 subjects), so I’ll get off my soap box for now. Just so you know I really am not a fan of most change. That Is How I See It. high school became involved Views: 237
Cost Of Entertainment On Rise
I just read where Disney World is increasing the price of a day pass. Admittedly it may not be a big increase. I really don’t know. I once won a 3 day stay there, which included flying down, and back, with a room and continental breakfast. I told them to give it to someone who would go. It would take about a $million to get to Florida. Well I might go for $100,000.oo. I was there once. Drove 18 hours to get there, After reaching our destination, I stayed 5 hours and came back home. Worst place I have ever been. Exception might have been Camp Eagle. But that is another story. It may just be in my blood. My Dad went there to visit my Uncles who moved down there. He hated it too. My son went to college there one year. He is a little more lenient than my Dad or me. He will go there for a day or two to visit friends. But back to the rise in costs for Disney World. Now it isn’t just Disney World, it seems most amusement parks are raising their prices. We all know sometimes a price increase has to come along. As employee’s need raises, and employee benefit cost raise. So I’m not really knocking them for the price increase. However, when you think about the overall cost for someone like me to go as a family of four, it really is quite pricey. Assume it is still the 1800 miles I traveled the last time. (There wasn’t Interstates all the way, so went by U.S. Highways), I think a good estimate for cars now is 26 mpg average. So round trip of 3600 miles, figure gas cost now about $3.50 a gallon, equals about $485.oo. Entry at $80.oo time 4 equals $320.oo. Now we are at $805.oo. Even for me 1800 miles is too much for a one day trip. Figure, driving the interstates, it is at least a 2 day drive. Thus we end up with at least 10 meals each for the round trip. Even eating at Burger King, we are looking at $200.oo for food, and that is not counting any drinks or snacks you have while on the road. Two overnight stays at a motel, (one going, and one coming home), that’s at least another $300.oo. I don’t know if Disney World charges to park there, I have been to some Amusement parks that do. But most don’t. So I’ll assume Disney doesn’t. Now we are at $1300.oo and just getting in the gate. Assuming, (again), you and your children spend what we spent the last time I took my family, which was several years ago, on drinks and food and souvenirs we’ll ad another $100.oo. Up to $1400.00 now. And let’s face it how much are you really going to get to see or do in one day? I know most of you are probably thinking WOW! that’s not bad. I suppose not but after driving 12 hours a day, for 2 days to get there, and 12 hours, a day for 2 days to come home. (Let’s not forgetting listening to the children and wife all that time while trying to keep your mind on driving), is it really worth it? Again probably yes, just to see the kid’s having fun. But for me that is more than I make each month. AND I still have my house payment, utilities, food, auto expenses, etc. But don’t worry, even if I could afford it I wouldn’t go. Disneyland in California would be another thing. That Is How I See It. have been just getting Views: 127
