This & That

Tom Crean is the new head basketball coach at UGA. Brother-in-law of football coaching brothers Jim and John Harbaugh. Crean took a year off after being fired at Indiana, and used the year to listen in on people he had access to: Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Tony LaRussa, Bill Belichek, Tom Brady, and others. Did some announcing and studio work for ESPN. He wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about his year off.

From my book: serving in LBJ‘s White House helped Secret Service agent Clint Hill deal with the traumatic events in Dallas because he was so busy that he didn’t have time to dwell on them. Days were long and the work was hard. Hill enjoyed the Texas Hill country because it reminded him of growing up in the Dakotas. He rose in rank to become the head of LBJ's detail, and also earned the President's respect. LBJ secretly had ranch clothes made for Hill as a gift and sign of acceptance. Like most of the country, Hill was astonished when LBJ announced he wouldn't run for a second term.

LBJ had a habit of eating supper every night at 9:30 pm or after. Late in LBJ's term the naive wife of a low level White House staffer from Macon GA, with few friends in Washington, invited the President and his wife to their small apartment in Arlington VA for a 7:30 pm birthday celebration. The President accepted the invitation but didn't tell anyone. The night of the party two other couples arrived at the appointed hour. They waited on the President but finally gave up and ate at 9 pm. At 10 pm the President announced that he was going out for dinner, was driven over to the party, and stayed until 11:30 pm.

At work most of the guys wear short sleeve polo shirts, or golf shirts. Most of the guys, especially in sales, have been around long enough to collect several of the Nike golf shirts with RYERSON on them. Kinds like a uniform. I have red, navy, and black, so I’m set for three days a week. I also have several other non-Ryerson golf shirts in my rotation, in those same colors. Some guys have a green or light blue Ryerson shirt.

Some weeks several guys will wear their red shirts on the same day. I’ve noticed one of the newer guys is careful to wait later in the week to wear his red shirt, after everyone else has worn theirs. This week I decided to play a trick on him. On Monday one guy wore red. Yesterday three more guys wore red. I knew the new guy would wear red today, so me and my neighbor wore red. So did at least two other people. Hilarious, huh?  

Left work at six Monday afternoon. Stopped by Dollar Tree for several items. Got home to find supper ready. Will was home after his day at Piedmont. Turned out he didn't have to work on Tuesday. He has a test on Wednesday in Augusta so he was driving back last night. Ceil and I ate beans and rice. She was working on her school art project and also ran out to Michaels. I did the dishes and played on my computer.

Watched some of Dancing With the Stars. They've got athletes competing against one another. Kareen Abdul Jabbar moved like he was 71 years old, though I think he stays active. I missed Johnny Damon and Tonya Harding. Also watched The Middle and some of Jerry McGwire.

My Tuesday was busy at work. trying to get all the July orders entered for one vendor, and trying to get trucks and rail cars shipped. There is a huge shortage of tractor trailers due to new government safety regulations. Then I discovered our rail line was disabled a month ago, and no one knew or noticed that we hadn’t gotten any rail cars in a month. There are four rail cars full of material just sitting around that can’t be loaded. No wonder my order was a month late.

Worked until almost 6:45. Dropped off items at Goodwill and recyclables at Publix. Didn’t get home until 7:45. Ceil had cooked a chinese dish for supper, and salad. Got through cleaning up the kitchen at 8:30. Watched the Braves and The Middle. Later Ceil was making her famous oatmeal peanut butter balls so I had to run to Kroger for chocolate chips. I went to Kroger for one item (chocolate chips) but also bought Cheerios, Ritz crackers, peanut butter, and a small protein shake.

Talked to The Chief. Was listening to the “exciting” ninth inning in the car. Yes that closer drives me crazy too. I heard he was only sharing the closer role now. Now Minter may be hurt. The Mets Jose Reyes played with Ronald Acuna’s father in the minor leagues. Acuna is the only player in major league history to wear both a “tilde” pronunciation mark and the “JR.” on his back at the same time. I love how all the young bucks on Twitter who know how to type the “n” in Acuna with the “tilde” above it – they get on to Braves old fogey beat writers Dave O’Brien and Mark Bowman for not spelling Acuna correctly. I doubt O’Brien and Bowman even care. They’re too busy as it is. Fans are lucky they get the information they get from DOB and Bowman, and still complain and make dumb comments.

Got home and watched Chicago Med. Was putting the finishing touches on my May list of bobblehead giveaways. It wasn’t complete and I’m still working on the rest of the season. The Lake Elsinore Storm are having a promotion you might like: “Nothing Night.” No ticket sales. No concessions. No music. No in-game entertainment. No PA announcements. Just baseball.

Stayed up until 11:30. Got up early this morning to run. Was walking down the stairs and pulled my Achilles. It has been tight lately but nothing like this. Tried to walk anyway but had to turn back after a third of a mile. We’ll see how it goes today (fair).  

Heinz is going to start selling a mixture of ketchup and mayo. Would you buy it? Not me.

Charles Baugh is currently in a production of Carmen, I think being put on in the Cobb Energy Theater.