Champions!

The San Francisco Giants!  Champions for the second time in three years!!  Go Giants!!!

A magical ride.  Behind 2 games to 0 against Cincinnati, with three to play away from home.  Won all three!

Behind 3 games to 1 against St. Louis.  Won three in a row to advance to the World Series.

In the Series against a Detroit team that had humbled the Yankees.  And then we won 1, then 2, then 3, then a 4^th, all in a row to win it all 4-0.

The magic is easily seen.  Great pitching.  Timely hitting.  Incredible defense.  A manager who overcame every obstacle, who made all the right moves month after month and then went with what got him there in the postseason – all without ego or histrionics.  A management and executive team second to none, with vision and common sense.  A park that suits the team.  And a fan base that filled the park for every game and never gave up. 

Finally, on the field a team that loves each other, will battle for each other, and is ready for a new hero every day.

A great, great season.  Go Giants!!!

Message #23 - If You Die Today It'll Be Too Late!

You’re probably just like everyone else.  You don’t want to think about dying.  And you especially don’t want to think about you dying.  Too bad.  You’re gonna die. That’s not the problem (easy for me to say, right?)  Here’s the problem:

If You Die Today It’ll Be Too Late!

It’ll be too late to do all the things you haven’t done.  Now I know that some of you out there believe in a hereafter.  And you may be thinking that this life is a Mulligan – this life is a practice swing and if you don’t like where the ball goes you’ll have another chance in the hereafter.  Sorry!  This is it.  I say take care of business this time around.

To help you out I’ve created a checklist/questionnaire.  Not complicated.  Maybe even missing a few things.  But it’ll get you started.

If you died today:

1. What haven’t you done that you really wanted to do?
2. What haven’t you said to someone you care about?
3. Who haven’t you said ‘I love you’ to?
4. Who haven’t you said ‘Thank you’ to?
5. Will you be leaving messes behind that someone has to clean up?
6. What will you leave incomplete or undone?
7. Are you leaving behind any resentment?
8. Are you leaving behind any regrets?
9. Where haven’t you gone that you really want to go?
10. What haven’t you seen that you really want to see?
11. Where did you want to return to and didn’t?
12. Will you die angry?
13. Did you really listen?
14. Did you really see?
15. Did you keep the promises you made?
16. Were you responsible for your physical well-being?
17. Were you responsible for your financial well-being?
18. Will you leave satisfied?
19. Will you have been a source of happiness to others?
20. What is your legacy?
21. Did you contribute to the world you occupied?
22. Did you learn everything you wanted to learn?
23. What books did you want to read and didn’t?
24. What music did you want to listen to and didn’t?
25. What movies did you want to see and didn’t?

Need I go on?  I don’t think it’s necessary.

Just remember – If You Die Today It’ll Be Too Late!

Remembering Syria!

Every day brings more pictures and stories of the killing and destruction that has engulfed Syria.  And every day I remember our trip to Syria three years ago.  Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, Hama, and more – enjoyable, interesting, memorable.

Especially in Aleppo, the focus of fighting in recent weeks, I try to determine if the streets we walked, the restaurants we ate in, the neighborhoods in which we stayed, have been destroyed.  I haven’t been able to find out.  I do know that the old, famous market area has burned.  We spent a fascinating day wandering the narrow lanes of that souk.  A tragic loss.

We never felt a concern for our safety.  People were friendly.  All seemed peaceful.  I knew that under the surface there were tensions, but they were never visible to us.  What a shame this civil war is.  I can only be thankful we made the trip when we did.  It’s unlikely we could do it again – at least for a very long time. 

Eyes of the Beholder!

In Biden vs Ryan I saw an energetic, effective Biden and a Ryan who was like a deer caught by headlights.  Others saw a rude, smirky Biden and a cool, informed Ryan. 

Conclusion:  Partisans cancel each other out.  Those who really matter, the undecided, didn’t see much to choose from.

I saw the Giant’s Miracle in Cincinnati as a great comeback story – one for the ages.  Others saw a sad, dejected Dusty Baker who now late in his career lost another big one. 

Conclusion:  In truth, I saw both.  I like Dusty and would like to see him win – someday – but am happy he lost this one.

I saw the decision by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors not to remove Sheriff Mirkarimi from his job as appropriate. Others saw it as a victory for minority progressives who are struggling to remain relevant. 

Conclusion:  For sure, he’s an asshole, but the campaign to oust him was more about politics than justice.

For me, the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union is ludicrous.  Others see it as an appropriate acknowledgement of a grand historical experiment that has defied the odds for success. 

Conclusions:  The committee was short of deserving candidates this year.  And the award was more an expression of hope than achievement.

Mitt Romney sitting down with Billy Graham, accepting his endorsement and encouraging Graham to pray for him is mock-theological pandering to pacify those remaining evangelicals who claim Mormons are not Christians – and of course win their votes in the process.  I’m not even interested in looking for another view on this one.

Conclusion:  I’m as intolerant as they are.

Have a nice day!

Did You See?

Did you see the video of a one-year-old baby playing with a magazine?  She didn’t know what to do with the thing.  She thought it was an iPad and kept trying to touch it to make it do things.  When she couldn’t get it to behave like other mobile devices she gave up in disgust.  Must be broken, right?

More on mobile devices:

A survey of 18-24 year olds found that on average they sent 3,200 text messages a month.  More than 100 a day!  May not boggle your mind, but it does mine.

Finally, a group of young people was asked if they were willing to try not using their smartphone for one day.  Those who agreed became part of the experiment.  Before the day was up 70% of them quit, gave up and went back to using their phones.  Couldn’t survive without them.  It is definitely a different world than in olden times – like five years ago.

Speechless in the Big Apple!

The City of New York is spending $97 million to build a golf course in the Bronx.  It is to be managed by Donald Trump.

You gotta be kidding me.