On the flip side. . .

My friend Craig and I were talking about movies this weekend and he brought up the following:


Pete's Dragon. (Who knew there was this much information on this show?) How rad (and yes, I did mean to say that) was this movie? Any movie with a tagline of "Brazzle Dazzle Brilliance!" is worth seeing, I don't care who you are. Don't worry - there's a soundtrack.

On a serious note. . .

Today I was, again introduced to the harsh reality that this world is full of crazies. Take a look at this guy to the left. Does he scream "Upstanding citizen with a good heart" to you or is the tune more like "Psycho lunatic that may kill someone someday"?
Well that's what he did this morning. This idiot was an inmate who shot and killed a police officer who was escorting him to his orthopedic doctor's appointment. My first question, why do we offer inmates orthopedic doctors to visit. Maybe I'm thinking of this incorrectly but isn't that kind of a luxury at this point? "Oh, your back hurts from sleeping on a cot?" The most appropriate response to this would be "You should have thought of that before you ________ (fill in the blank with unnecessary and pathetic previous crime)." Instead, we say "Tell you what. . . let's take you to a premium-care facility and just get you the treatment you need." NO! I don't agree with this at all. Congestive heart failure = doctor. Brain aneurysm = doctor. Sore knee from too much basketball during 'free time' = too bad sucker. Take an Advil and call it a day. There are thousands of people who can't afford to visit a facility like this and yet we'll send our inmates there for treatment. If you are going to use my tax money for orthopedic treatment, offer it to the homeless or the destitute. Don't waste it on this idiot.
Second question about this whole thing - what is this world coming to? It kind of seems like you can't wake up anymore and see a single good thing on the news. What is it in today's society that makes people like this think that they can disregard the well-being and even lives of others? It's almost like people aren't afraid of the law anymore or that they'd rather spend time in jail than get a hobby. Paris can tell you that jail is not the place to be. . . why don't these lunatics get it?
I'm saddened by the fact that it takes something like this for us to step back and think "Could this have been prevented?" You bet it could have. I realize that sometimes, there are no signs that would warn us that a person is dangerous but give me a break with this one. What part of the swastika tattooed on his forehead wasn't a small warning of insanity? From the recent Trolley Square shooting to this (and this is only local news ind you), there has got to be something that can be done to treat these people before they get to their breaking point. Thoughts?

A Blog-Worthy Day. . .

At least that's what Steph called it so thanks for the headline! Do you ever have one of those days where there are so many random stories that you just need to spill it all to someone? Well, today is turning out to be one of those days. While these little gems might not seem that great to any of you readers out there, they are odd to me to I'm writing them down. A list of little tid-bits. . .

1. Ticket-free. . . and do not emphasize the FREE part of that! I got a ticket for driving on a closed road a while back. An unwarranted ticket I might add since my house in in the middle of the construction. So, needless to say, the boxer in me came out and I decided to fight it. OK, my dad made me want to fight it. Well, three weeks and a trip to the clerk's office later and you know what I have? A court date for today at 3:30 to meet with a traffic referee. Yeah, that's actually what it's called. Sidenote: I may look into becoming one of those. I think it sounds fun.
Anyway, after some discussions with the city prosecutor (don't ask, it's a long, long story that any one of my co-workers could recite by heart, I'm sure), I no longer have to go to court nor do I have to take traffic school which would have been mandatory with this citation. BUT, I do have to pay a nice little $75 fine so that the ticket doesn't go on my record. Justice? Nope, not even close. But, we may call it injustice with a 50% discount. . .
The real irony here is that the very road that was closed was re-opened this very morning after 3 months, the morning of my date with the second district court. I hate 'em.

2. Did you ever recommend a restaurant to someone and all they got from the restaurant was food poisoning? Well I did. And it's like a double whammy because now not only do you feel bad for what may now be your former friend, but you start questioning the validity of what was once a recommendation-worthy dining experience. Yes, I do have a heart and I do care more about the sickness than loosing an eating establishment from my lunchtime repertoire. But still. . .

3. Conversation that happened yesterday about needing to reschedule a meeting for today. For future reference - yesterday was Tuesday. The names in this conversation have been changed to protect the innocent although maybe they shouldn't have been so you can avoid this at all costs:

Joe: We need to reschedule the meeting for tomorrow.
Barbie: I already checked your schedule and you are completely booked on Monday.
Joe: That's why I don't want to do it on Monday - I want to do it tomorrow.
Barbie: But tomorrow IS Monday.

Timeout. I understand skipping A day, but six? Really? You missed an entire week? And in addition, we wouldn't be at work if tomorrow was Monday, correct? Does anyone else see the major, major flaw in this? This is no little thing. This is a tragedy that this can even take place. How do you come to work and take the company's money on good conscience when you can miss six whole days? I'm at a loss. . .

That ought to do it. Three good stories for the day. . . ok, good to me.

Living on Purpose. . .

Doing it. Loving it. I can honestly say there's nothing like it. Live your life on purpose, without regret. It's the only true way to be. Challenge of the week: do one thing that you you've been putting off for over a month. That's it.