Tuesday, 11/12

 

Hope you had a great weekend. While mine was three days long, I'm still wondering how it went.

What did I do, you ask? Well, I answer...

I, in no particular order, bought a new washer/dryer, used said new washer/dryer, did an interview with someone, got a Covid shot, didn't feel too hot for a few hours after the Covid shot, played soccer with my favorite soccer partner in the world, bought a new love seat, tried (unsuccessfully, so far) to get rid of the old love seat, wrote a TV piece, performed said TV piece, made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, put together a holiday gift list, complained about the rain, tried to remember the password to a website I hadn't been on in a while, spent too much time resetting the password to that website, started working on my next History Center show, wrote up a bunch of UP-themed questions for the second round of “High School Bowl”, and started ruminating about a project which, if I decide to do it, could take almost all of my time at the beginning of the new year.

So, you know, a usual weekend for me.

8-)

I'll often joke about how I'm always so busy because I get bored easily, and while there is a modicum of truth to that, I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe, I should put it to a test. You know...work my butt off one weekend, accomplish everything I need to for two weekends, and then spend the following weekend doing absolutely nothing at all.

I wonder if I'd be able to handle that?

I'd like to think I would, but I know me better than that. I realize that there are people who use the weekend for its intended purpose—to do nothing but veg out in front of the TV and relax. And I suppose that's what a normal person SHOULD do. But, as both know, I'm anything but normal, and I have the feeling that by, oh, 10 am Saturday morning, I'd be pacing around, looking for something to do, and accomplishing nothing other than driving Loraine insane.

And I'm sure she'd appreciate that.

So for the foreseeable future I'm gonna guess future weekends will look like the one I just finished, minus (hopefully) the Covid shot and purchasing of a washer-dryer. If that ever changes...well, I probably wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Really, I wouldn't.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 11/8

Because I have to go shoot yet another “High School Bowl” in a few seconds, and because Monday is Veterans Day, I figured I'd leave you with something from a dozen years ago that seems kind of appropriate.

Since I have Monday off, something new comes up Tuesday. Have a great weekend, whether it's three days long or not!

(jim@wmqt.com)

*****

(as originally posted 11/9/2014)

Sunday is Veterans’ Day. Most people only think about the day when they realize there won’t be any mail on Monday, but in living with a World War II researcher, I’ve come into a whole new appreciation of the day, especially when I hear the stories of people for whom the day honors.

People like THIS one, Charles Senecal.

Charles Senecal was born in Newberry in 1918, and moved to Grand Marais when young. He graduated from Grand Marais high school, and was drafted into the Army in 1940, for what was supposed to be a one-year hitch. However, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was in for the duration.

He went overseas with an offshoot of the 107^th Engineers, and found himself stationed in England, where he trained for and eventually took part in the invasion of Normandy. He found himself in three other major battles, earning commendations for them all, when on December 17^th, 1944, while resting somewhere in Belgium, his unit was called back into action.

You see, the Battle of the Bulge had begun.

Even though he was in an engineering battalion, Senecal’s team was ordered to become an infantry unit, and took up defensive positions near the village of Bullingen. This, of course, was during the worst European winter of the 20^th century; think of what a blustery January day is like in the U.P. and you can imagine what it was like in Belgium in December of 1944--not ideal conditions for any activity, much less defending a village. Soon, a German Panzer division approached Bullingen, and were turned back by Senecal’s engineers-turned-infantry soldiers. A second German attack was repulsed, and when the third one came, it consisted of a dozen German Panzer & Tiger tanks (the biggest tanks either side had). Senecal’s unit was over-run, and one machine gunner found himself cut off from the rest of the group, and under heavy German fire. Sgt. Senecal, with no regard for his safety, dashed across an open field and came to the rescue of the gunner, receiving the wounds from which he eventually died three days later.

This, in fact, is the field where he died, on the outskirts of Bullingen, Belgium--

For his actions, Grand Marais’ Charles Leonard Senecal was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. He was temporarily laid to rest in the Henri-Chappelle Military Cemetery in Belgium; his body was returned to be buried in Grand Marais in October, 1947.

So on Monday, when you realize you’re not getting any mail, and you then realize that’s because Sunday was Veterans’ Day, think about all the people who’ve served their country, and, in cases like that of Sgt. Senecal, made the ultimate sacrifice, as well.

Thursday, 11/7

Because we all need a laugh these days, let's turn to my “365 Stupidest Things Ever Said” calendar, shall we?

The calendar is one of the things I put on my holiday list every year, and after I unwrap it I read all 365 (or 366, this year) entries in a row and usually end up, at some point, sitting on our living room couch with tears streaming down my face.

Kind of like a few nights ago, but in a good way.

Anyway, yesterday's entry caught my eye, not because it was particularly funny (although it was), but more because of where it from—Michigan Tech...

Knowing the people at Tech, and how their brains work logically and with a minimum of fuss, I can actually see someone writing out a sign just like that. Whether or not you could actually follow the instructions?

Well, that's open for debate.

So congrats to our friends up the road for making the calendar at which I laugh my sanity off to on a yearly basis. If you're looking for a challenge (and I know most people up there are), you can always see if you can top yourself and make next year's edition, too.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 11/6

Really?  I had to be right about this?

You may recall yesterday when I wrote that I thought last night's election wouldn't be as close as all the polls showed, and I have to say I was correct about that, although not in the way I thought. I'm still processing everything after not sleeping last night AND having to go shoot "High School Bowl" in a few minutes.

So I'm gonna put up the flower pictures I had originally planned on posting, for a calming few seconds before you delve head-first back into whatever your day holds.  And since mine holds TV in 25 minutes, I hope you'll forgive me.

8-)

And, as Mr Bee says in the picture above, don't forget to breathe.  I think it's really good advice on a day like today.

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Tuesday, 11/5

I wonder if I should do it again. I wonder if I'll even NEED to do it again.

First of all, welcome to Election Day, the day we may (or may not) find out who will be leading this country for the next four years. As I both wrote in here yesterday and talked about on TV last night, it's been a stressful few months, and that stress will continue until there's a definite winner. And if it's anything like the LAST election, that could take a bit.

While we were waiting for a winner to be declared four years ago, I took to posting pretty pictures of flowers in here. As it turned out, several people actually looked forward to the pictures as a way of relieving, if only for a few minutes, the uncertainty of what was going to happen. I had no idea that's the effect it would have, much less that it would help people get through a stressful time, but if it helped, I'm glad I did it.

And that's why I'm wondering if I should do it again.

Now (and this is just me), I don't know if it'll be necessary. I have this feeling—and I could be entirely wrong about this—that the election won't even be close. I have a feeling-and I could be entirely wrong about this—that we'll look back on this election and wonder why we thought it could have been so close. That's just a feeling, and if I'm wrong about that—and I very well could be—then we may not know how things turn out until, perhaps, later this week.

So if that's the case, you may be seeing a lot of pictures like this--

Will I be posting more of them? Well, I guess we'll find out tonight.

Or tomorrow.

Or, if history repeats itself, some day later this week. We'll see...

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 11/4

Tomorrow, we hope, it's over.

I think many of us have been watching this year's ever-evolving Presidential election with a mix of fascination and fear, much like one might watch an innocent little puppy running into the path of an 18-wheel truck. Well, with the election finally tomorrow, and the final results of it known (hopefully) not soon after, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it has almost run its course.

Almost.

I'm not gonna delve into the politics of the election; after all, we try to stay as non-partisan as possible around here. But I do wanna talk about a trend I've noticed this year, especially on social media, that I don't think is a good trend, and that's the vilification of people who think differently than you. I can't tell you the number of times I've been scrolling down my Facebook feed only to see someone sharing an article that says “so & so DESTROYS Politician One” or “Science proves the followers of Politician Two are stupid”. And those are just the headlines of the articles; once or twice, I accidentally read the comments under the post, and then felt like I had to take a shower.

They were that bad.

Now sure, you can disagree with people on the issues and what they think should be done about those issues. I have friends with whom I disagree politically, but that doesn't mean I think they're morons or should be rounded up and thrown out of the country. That's just...wrong. They're people just like you, people who are concerned about the future of the country and in which direction it's headed. You may disagree with people on something, but that doesn't make them the devil incarnate. It just means they have a different opinion than you. But there's something about politics the past few years, and this election cycle in particular, that has brought out the worst in people. In fact, there have been times this year when I thought things couldn't get any cruder or ruder than they were.

And then I was proven wrong.

I would not want to be whoever gets elected tomorrow night. I would not want to have to take over a country filled with such venom and hatred, a country where half the people think think the other half are morons or the Anti-Christ. Yet whoever does win tomorrow is going to have that job, faced with the task of trying to lead a country where half the population thinks they should be drawn and quartered. I'd like to say I have hope we'll get over this. However, I've lived in this country the past eight years and, however, I've read some of the comments posted online, and I know that's not gonna happen any time soon.

I wish I had an answer for this; I really do. Because then I could run for President under a platform of national reconciliation, and not find my reputation, my life, and the actions of the people supporting me torn apart, ridiculed, and shoved into the smelly Mason Jar of partisan politics.

So remind me not to do that any time soon.

Maybe, once the election's over, we'll have a cooling-off period, and some people will look back on their Facebook feeds in wonder and disgust at some of the stuff they've posted. Maybe, once the campaign ads are done and cable news goes back to talking about something other than politics as a blood sport, people will be able to take a step back and see the bigger picture.

And maybe, while we're at it, I can get that spaceship I ask for every year on my Christmas list. Because I have the feeling there's a better chance of that happening than there is of peace, friendship, and goodwill occurring after tomorrow night.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 11/1

Finally—FINALLY--I'm going to get around to writing about those two TV shows you should check out.

But now I'm gonna make it three.

This all started earlier this week when I wrote about the never-ending stream of political commercials on the air- and streaming-waves, and how it'll be nice to watch something OTHER than those spots back to back to back (to back). I have a couple of international shows I've been watching recently to escape just that, and wanted to recommend them.

So now, I finally am.

The first is an Australian show on Paramount + called “Colin from Accounts”. It's a romantic comedy of sorts, about a couple of who find themselves taking care of a dog one of them runs over with a car after the other flashes him. It's funny, it's weird, and, like all comedies these days, it makes you squirm a little. But for such a show it has a surprisingly romantic heart, which is perhaps due to the fact that a husband and wife team created and writes it.

That's one.

The other show is a German police show available on PBS Passport called “Luna & Sophie”. Loraine and I decided to watch an episode just because it's set in Germany (and in German with subtitles); now, we're almost half way through the series. It's that good. Sure, each episode has a murder to solve, but that usually takes a back seat to the two lead characters, women who are best friends and partners on the force. One's single, one's (unhappily) married, and it's that part of the show that makes it so worthwhile. It's filled with humor and some biting social commentary, two things no one would ever suspect Germans of being good at, but trust me.

They are.

So, those are the two shows I keep meaning to recommend, should you want to avoid political commercials the next few days. But now I'm going to add a third--

The 46^th season premiere of “High School Bowl” is coming up tomorrow night at 8 on WNMU-TV...hint hint.

Speaking of which, I have to go shoot another episode of it now, so I'll take my leave now. Have a great weekend...especially considering it's the last one you'll have to spend avoiding all those political ads!

(jim@wmqt.com)