In other types of postings I haven’t done in ages, I bring to you today nothing more than an old fashioned link post, which is another way of saying that I am acknowledging the fact that I am not really writing anything focused, and that these are the things that I’ve seen today that have piqued my interest enough to warrant writing a little blurb about them, but nothing more substantial.
Needless to say, I’ve been having somewhat of a writer’s block lately, as well as having some other tasks that are occupying my time when I am sitting in front of a computer, so I haven’t really had the leisurely chunks of time that I prefer to have when I can sit, read, formulate thoughts and write more substantial things.
Anyway, I still like reading the news and the various bookmarks that I visit on a regular basis, and these are the recent stories that have managed to elicit reactions from my brain.
Stories that make me feel warm and holiday fuzzy:
Ronda Rousey fulfilling promise to accompany Marine to Marine Corps Ball – Honestly, I’m surprised that there are as many people who dislike Rousey as there appears to be. In spite of her recent defeat, she’s a tremendous fighter and in my opinion, done more for women’s equality than many before her have; if it were up to me, I’d have named her the Sports Illustrated Sports(person) of the year, for just those reasons alone. Not to mention she’s attractive and has that sharp awareness of internet memes that makes her seem like she’s a pretty cool person outside of the octagon as well.
But most importantly, a woman who keeps her word, and when she said she would attend the Marine Corps Ball with a Marine who asked her out over the internet, defeat to Holly Holm or not, she still did.
Queen Elizabeth the Second personally thanks grandfather and grandson for 60-year tradition – long story short, a grandfather sent a Christmas card to Queen Elizabeth the Second every year for 60 years, until he passed at the age of 102. His grandson kept the tradition going, but after the first Christmas, he received a personal response from Her Majesty herself, acknowledging the cards, tradition, the passing of the grandfather, and reaching out with condolences.
Stories that make me happy:
Howard Stern renews SiriusXM contract – Welp, I guess I have a reason to keep my Sirius subscription going now. Seriously, if Stern were to have retired, I probably wouldn’t renew my subscription, and I’d have probably moved onto ringing up egregious data charges when I’d had to have relied upon my phone to provide tunes as the alternative to shitty Atlanta radio.
I kind of knew he was going to come back, because as a long-time listener, frankly I knew that there was still plenty left in the tank, and five more years isn’t the least bit absurd for him to continue on being the King of All Media.
Tennessee teenager arrested and jailed for 48 hours, over sagging pants
Good.
This isn’t said very often, but everywhere else should follow Tennessee’s example, here.
Now that’s innovative:
Homeless man creates his own cave – My knee-jerk reaction to reading this story and finding out that it was six miles away from where I used to live when I lived back in Virginia was “there are homeless people in Fairfax County?” I didn’t know such types of undesirables even existed in the land of McMansions. But either way, upon seeing just how well-crafted this guy’s cave actually was, it’s a shame that it was on public property, and it resulted in him getting arrested, because with this guy’s handiwork and ingenuity, he probably could have been making some actual, less-shady dollars, doing per-project work out of a The Home Depot parking lot.
Now that’s fuckin’ scary:
Plumbing company trades in company truck, company truck eventually ships to Syria and is used by ISIS militants – Man, I can’t think of just how much it must suck to be this plumbing company, to see your old truck on television, with a gun mounted on it, being used by terrorists; all while your company’s name and phone number are clearly still all over it. Suddenly, everyone believes you and your company to be terrorist sympathizers and nobody wants to hire you anymore.
Yeah, if I’m the owner of this company, I’m suing everyone I can to even remotely come close to the amount of harassment, defamation, scrutiny and lost-business because the dealership was too lazy and/or irresponsible to remove any business graphics prior to unloading it themselves.
Now that’s sad:
Serena Williams takes taxi to the end of charity race; that’s named after her – By the way, instead of Ronda Rousey, it was the same Serena Williams who was named SI’s Sports(person) of the Year; now I’m not taking a critical tone because I don’t personally care for her, but facts are facts – she failed to catch Stefi Graf’s Grand Slam record this year, and honestly, she’s been so good at what she’s done for so long, why is this year warranting of Sports(person) of the Year as opposed to any prior years? Must’ve been a weak field, or like Bill Simmons would compare it to the late 90’s Utah Jazz.
The saddest part about this story of Williams needing to take a cab to the end of her race is the fact that it was a 5K. 3.1 miles. I’m pretty sure Serena Williams runs more than that in a five-set match, but doing it in a running trail should be vastly easier, and way less strenuous on the ankles, but for whatever reason, she felt like she couldn’t finish a 5K? Some sports(person).
Incorrect headline:
There’s Now a Class Worse Than Coach? “Last Class,” the new class of airfares, being rolled out by major airlines, to combat the upstart budget carriers like Spirit and Frontier, that basically offer middle-seats with no free carry-on luggage, etc, etc. The irony is, that there’s always been a class worse than coach, even before last class –called standby. Sure, there will be something to be said about the fact that standby travelers might still get the benefit of carry-on luggage being still allowed, but the fact of the matter is that the more-important seat assignment will still go to the last class before it gets to the standbys.
I haven’t traveled a whole lot in quite some time, but I’m curious to know if this is going to adversely affect my ability to fly standby to a highly detrimental degree. Hopefully not!
