Reading Grizzard

Tonight Anna stopped by beetlecat. M was working, and hooked her up. Ceil brought home a Christmas tree.

I rarely read actual books these days, but checked out a Lewis Grizzard book “If I Ever Get Back to Georgia I’m Going to Nail My Feet to the Ground” about his journalism career. Listening to Jodi Picoult’s fictional novel  “The Book of Two Ways” about excavating Egyptian mummies and extrapolating the quantum mechanics theory “Schrodinger’s Cat” to prove parallel universes. Don’t be impressed, it’s chick lit.

Might start reading during lunch. Beats checking social media. Read my Lewis Grizzard book today. 2021 might be a banner year for book reading. On our Thanksgiving trip Ceil and I listening to the first part of the first Harry Potter book. Not my genre, but it’s well-written. We need to start listening at night so we can finish.

Still wish GT football and basketball would beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. So embarrassing to be upset by a small school. Those athletes should be ashamed by upset. Instead it’s like they could care less. Then they talk about “we’re rebuilding” and “it’s a process”. That crap gets old. Win the durned game.

GT: 1st & goal from the one. Tech goes fast instead of waiting for the replay to confirm the TD. Two procedure penalties then a 14 yard loss on a botched backwards pass, when the RB couldn’t be bothered to bend over and pick up the ball. At least that call was overturned, and on 4th down Gavin Stewart curved a field goal barely inside the upright. Missed tackles, penalties, unsportsmanlike conduct - every play is agonizing to watch.

What’s wrong with college football: NC State DB gets tossed for targeting - for the 3rd time this season. This time when GT QB Jeff Sims was sliding.

Would you rather Tech basketball...

A. Lose to Mercer and Georgia State but beat Kentucky

B. Beat Mercer and Georgia State but lose to Kentucky.

I choose B. So embarrassing to get beat by smaller programs. Saw some Tech fans bragging about beating Kentucky (whose record is 1-3 now). Those same fans were pretty quiet after Tech lost to Mercer and Georgia State.

Saturday football:

GA@Mizzou TBD

Pitt@GT 6 pm

Clemson doesn't play until Dec 19th, against Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game.

Left at five on Friday afternoon. On the way home I called in an order to Moxie Burger, so it was ready to  pick up when I got there. Then we had a two-hour Zoom call with three couples from our Sunday School class, and a missionary family in the Far East.

Cleaned upstairs on Saturday morning. Ceil left for a birthday lunch with a couple of friends. I worked on a project. When C returned home we went out shopping. What we were looking for was outside. Then home to watch the second half of GT@NCState then Clemson@VirginiaTech. Our TV was acting up so we watched the 4th quarter on our phones. Ceil cooked chili for supper.

Sunday school met out in a field by a member’s house. Masks were worn and plenty of room to spread out. Two bonfires to keep warm. I wore four layers on top, two layers of pants, hiking boots, gloves, and a cap. I forgot to count, but there were at least 32 in attendance, including one for the first time.

Back home I didn’t feel like turning on the TV. Ate leftover chili. Took a short nap. Worked on a project. Finally turned on Eagles@Packers, then a Hallmark movie: Christmas on the Ranch. Ceil baked BBQ chicken, macaroni & cheese, and broccoli.

Tonight is small group with two other guys. Tomorrow is Ceil’s women’s ministry. Wednesday is Hot Stove up in Cumming.

Players who hit the 10,000th home run for National League franchises.

Team        Player    Date   Career HRs

Giants.......Aldrete..10-Jul-1988......41

Cubs.........Sosa......17-Aug-1995  609

Braves......Lopez....05-Jun-1997...260

Reds.........LaRue...20-Jun-2001.... 96

Dodgers....Green...24-Jul-2001.....328

Phillies......Abreu...07-Aug-2001....288

Cardinals..Luna.....03-May-2006.... 15

Pirates......Jones...02-Sep-2009.....122

Condescending / patronizing phrases you say without thinking..

1. You can do better than that. Instead: That’s great, but I think we can do even better. What do you think?

2. Now back to the matter at hand. Better: that falls outside the scope of this meeting. Why don’t we discuss that one-on-one later?

3. I actually like that idea. Better: That’s a good idea.

4. Everyone knows that. Instead: “you may know that…”

5. Good luck with that. Better: Let me know if you need any help.

6. You’re missing my point. Better: Let me rephrase this to make it more clear.

7. You are free to go. 

https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/6-patronizing-phrases-you-say-at-work-without-realizing-it?ltm=ekjeyZLljktd7FXHoTL09BtUffLnpw00GjKGeAFV5NDUr7ybXqtT/iP57XQmxtsa&subscriber_type=member&utm_swu=6280&utm_source=member&utm_content=dnl-11-25-20&utm_term=dnl-11-25-20&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter

Cheap Eats in Atlanta

Jacks Pizza & Wings: Old Fourth Ward

American Deli

La Fonda: Howell Mill

Taqueria Del Sol: Westside

Philly Connection

Hankook Taqueria: Korean/Mexican fusion – nachos

NFA Burger (tots) inside Dunwoody Chevron

Fellini’s Buckhead

Corner Café sandwiches

Rocky Mountain Pizza Hemphill near Tech

Original Hot Dog Factory

Harry’s Pizza and Subs

Taco Pete East Point burgers

The Manna House Marietta meat & three, fried chicken

Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken

Mad Italian Chamblee

Bell Street Burritos Buckhead

El Rey Del Taco Buford Highway

https://www.atlantaeats.com/blog/13-cheap-eats-in-atlanta/

Another Day in 2020

 

The age we live in: doesn't matter if rules are broken. Sure the Joe Jackson case has circumstances that may need to be taken into account, but is a rule not a rule?

Sunday night supper: BBW chicken, macaroni & cheese, and broccoli.

Above: Will found a monolith on the Westside Beltway.

Below: in college football it's illegal to block a quarterback who's not actively trying to tackle a defender with the ball. Also illegal to tackle said quarterback. A bad look for Coastal Carolina in their moment in the sun, a nationally televised home game.

Trevor Lawrence ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, making it look easy in the process - further cementing his hold on the Heisman Trophy.

The Falcons broke out their throwback uniforms today, and painted up the field for the occasion.

Quarantine Life

Friday night Ceil and I split a chicken entrepreneur from Moxie Burger. 

Saturday I watched some of the Tech game. Poorly coached. Undisciplined. Among the national leaders in most penalties. A foul on almost every play. Not a rambling wreck, but a train wreck.

Saturday night: chili.

At work people are starting to get super careful again, like back in April careful. Outside salespeople have pretty much been pulled back off the road. No Christmas parties or dinners. Shoot at my hair cutting place everyone wears masks.

Guy from small group is having outpatient surgery next week. Friday he got tested as a precaution, so he can’t come to small group next week. Thursday night someone was in our regular meeting room, so we found an even bigger classroom with four tables, one in each corner of the room. Each of us sat behind one table, even further spaced than we’d been in the past. I almost took a picture. After getting back from South Carolina the small group has been the once place I’ve gone. Kroger once, and a couple of drive thrus. Supposed to meet up tonight to pray for our missionary friends, but we’re going to do that via the computer. 

Christmas cards: I suppose in this day and age the cards we’ll be receiving will be getting less and less Christian. The cards companies are making will be more and more secular. I’ve discussed my family card with Anna, but left most of it up to her.  

Many years after Christmas I would take all the cards we’d received that year and put them in this piece of furniture in our foyer. From time to time I’d see them there.

_{Finally close to getting caught up a little with work, but still plenty to do.}

_{Thursday night small group last night. There was something going on at JFBC, a drive through women’s thing. All lit up. Got home and watched two more Seinfeld episodes from season two. Also saw video of Suzi Voyles’ testimony at the Georgia state capitol building, on a cable news channel prime time show.} 

Denison: we can do more together than we can apart. Safety in a pandemic depends on keeping each other safe. The same is true of nearly every dimension of life, from driving a car, to bridging partisan divides, to engaging in social media—when we work with each other for each other, everyone benefits. However, mutual interconnectedness directly contradicts the self-centeredness that is central to Western culture. As Denison noted yesterday, our society has insisted that life centers on the individual. From religion to politics to economics, I filter the world through a lens that focuses on what is best for me. You do the same. It's the way we are socialized to think. 

Writing for the Public Discourse, biblical scholar Carl R. Trueman notes: "The notions that human flourishing is found primarily in an inner sense of well-being. Authenticity is found in being able to act outwardly as one feels inwardly. Who we are is a matter of personal choice not external imposition, are intuitions we all share." Building on this individualism, secularism has demoted "the notion of transcendent human nature" and rendered our purpose as "the attaining of personal psychological happiness in whatever form happens to work for the individual concerned." Marxist thinkers convinced many that we must reject the social conformity imposed by traditional family structures, and embrace sexual liberation in any and all its expressions. 

We are told that unless we affirm each person's individual choices, we are denying their sense of self. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion must be subsumed to this pathological "new normal." Trueman accurately forecasts a future rife with fragmentation. "Only by modeling true community, oriented toward God, can the church show a rapidly destabilizing world of expressive individuals that there is something greater, more solid, and more lasting than the immediate satisfaction of personal desires." In other words, whether we are confronting coronavirus, responding to political divisions, or offering an alternative to the radical existentialism of our day, we are best when we are together.

Hot Stove: Amazing Stories

Hot Stove met several weeks ago, and four hearty men braved the elements to attend (plus me). No special speaker, but as usual several special stories were shared. Tom Curren is a regular attender, usually sharing heartfelt stories. He's looking forward to taking his young grandson to ballgames. Tom told several matter of fact, run of the mill stories that were in fact amazing.

In 1956 Tom was in 10th grade in Chestatee High in Baltimore. One day One of Tom's teammates was Edward Malloy, who went on to become president of Notre Dame. Malloy told Tom that the principal was letting the boys stay after lunch to watch the World Series. That's how Tom got to see Don Larsen's perfect game. Back then Tom and his friends "all wanted to be like Jackie" Robinson. Tom may have gone to school with Art Garfunkel.

Tom was in 6th grade and on the school patrol, but when he abandoned his post to walk his girlfriend the last two blocks to school the nun kicked him off. Later the school patrol got to attend a Washington Senators game at Griffith Park. The Yankees were playing that afternoon, and Mickey mantle hit a ball that cleared the flagpole – the longest home run ever hit. And Tom missed it.

Other Hot Stove notes

Johnny Tallant wore a Florida White Sox cap from the 1980's, when the ChiSox almost left the windy city. 

Johnny's granddaughter Ruth made the West Forsyth JV team as a kicker. Like the girl and Vanderbilt, several varsity kickers ahead of Ruth got sick, and she may have a chance to kick for the varsity.

When Johnny was in the hospital he won the "Neapolitan Challenge" by coercing the nurse to give him chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream all in one day. 

The Hudson Grille in Sandy Springs closed. 

Damon Berryhill is no longer the manager of the Gwinnett Stripers. Like many teams, the Braves are going with younger coaches, like Manny T in Rome. 

Several Forsyth County players made the roster at the alternate training camps, including Dakota Chalmers and Bier. 

Hugh Tinsley's wife passed away.

How Augusta National's Par-3 Course became a little piece of perfection

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__golf.com_news_features_augusta-2Dnational-2Dmasters-2Dpar-2D3-2Dcourse-2Dperfection_-3Futm-5Fcampaign-3Dforecast&d=DwIFAg&c=UXihhqr7vvdA-hrKyTiC1Q&r=wMWwaEbn9nr4zXI4p6CDP7FGwn1DrBd77MJElrWsP6U&m=c6wt8qK1dG-6PW1tKCEv80olW2MGVU8Jzwyla69ClJc&s=eSd-7jg4JsTgjCyPi4VPL5-Xwtk9jVgH1tXEifVUZGM&e= 

TREVOR BAUER [B-R Bio] one-time Arizona Diamondback was the first ever Cincinnati Reds pitcher to win the National League Cy Young Award - CYA 2020; Debuted and played 1 year for ARI in 2012. All the games he completed that year were shutouts, with both stats leading the majors: 2 CG; 2 SHO in 2020 Playing at UCLA, he followed in the footsteps of Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey. Won the Golden Spikes Award in 2011. Lincecum (2006) and Posey (2008) were previous winners. 

Hall of Famers who played on more than seven major league teams.

Player…No. of Teams…WAR

Henderson...9................ 111.2

Perry............8.................. 93.0

Brouthers...11.................. 79.8

O'Rourke.... 8.................. 52.1

Wilhelm...... 9.................. 49.7

White.......... 9.................. 45.7

Gossage..... 9.................. 41.6

Smith.......... 8.................. 29.3 

The Chosen One

At work we had a webcast hosted by the company CEO. He’s been broadcasting from the office in his basement. Earlier I spied a “wall catch” bobblehead behind him on his desk. He’s been adding books and other nick nacks behind him. Today he had a framed Sports Illustrated cover of Lebron James in high school, with the title “The Chosen One.”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is married to former Braves pitcher Sean Gilmartin, who later played for the Mets, Orioles, and Rays. Gilmartin is in the news for refusing to wear a mask to his wife’s press conference. 

I am starting to see a lot of basketball on TV.

Was thinking about the Christmas specials on TV recently: ABC has Disney’s Holiday Special. NBC had the Rockefeller Center Christmas Show. CBS had a Country Music Christmas Special. So only ABC/Disney didn’t have Christmas in the title. Saw where recently Denison linked to an article saying only 6% of the US was Muslim or other religions. Sure seems like more, based on what you see in the media. 

_{Any news today? Not much from me. Left the office around 5:15. Had to stop by Kroger to pick up something for Ceil. Spaghetti and salad for dinner. Was able to work on a project after supper. Watched three more Seinfeld episodes last night, finishing the first season. Also finished a work project yesterday. Got more to do. And a coworker is out, so I’ll be filling in for him.}

_{Tonight I have small group up at the church.}  

JAVY LOPEZ  [SABR Bio] holds the record for doubles in a National League Championship Series, with five in the 1996 NLCS for ATL when they beat STL. For his performance in that LCS, he was named MVP and help put his team back in the World Series as they were the then current title holders. ATL won the WS in 1995. Lopez was MVP of the 1996 NLCS. In the last year of his 15-year career, Javy was teammates with a young fellow countryman pitcher whose first and last names matched his. Although teammates with BOS in 2006 for about a month, catcher Javier Torres Lopez (goes by “Javy”) and fellow Puerto Rican Javier Alfonso Lopez, a left-handed reliever, never appeared together in a game (opportunity missed).

Random Meet-up

Anna was at the grocery store across from Grady High this evening, and ran into Matthew. Not sure what M is doing with his hands.

Below: Raiders rookie Fred Biletnikoff catches a pass in a preseason game against future teammate Willie Brown.

Wednesday night supper: check out these crazy noodles.

Monday night: black beans and rice.

_{Worn down from all the busy-ness. Discouraging. Not just work. The actual job and work and people aren’t that bad, but there’s too much work to do in the 40 hours, especially when others are out on vacation. Our team was reduced from four people to three when the virus hit. Now our customer is back running full speed. My boss has had to step in and handle some administrative chores, and he’s also been given lots of other additional work as well. He and others are working a lot longer hours than me. I’m happy to have the job and don’t want to be the only one complaining. I don’t want to be one of the only people not coming into to the office. It would be easier to work longer hours from home, but in the office I have two screens and access to a printer and other resources.}

_{I did get one other chore knocked out today, and hope to get another taken care of tomorrow. But I looked at my to do list and was reminded of several more. If I can get them knocked out one every day or two, that will be good. Also a lot going not just at work but everywhere else. And the virus just goes on and on, and all the other crud going on in the world. Gotta keep my mind focused on Jesus. God has answered several of my specific prayers recently, and I’ve tried to be thankful. Sometimes (okay oftentimes) I eat too much, and I’m trying to not do that as much.}

_{Rough afternoon yesterday. Worked past 5:30 then headed home. Ceil was at her women’s ministry. Usually I might grab something on the way home but tried to be good. Skipped out on a couple of other errands as well.}

_{There was some orange chicken I could’ve fixed but wasn’t feeling it. Made toast instead with butter and jelly. A changeup from PB&J. Plopped down on the couch and watched a few training videos for a project I need to work on. Also watched The Weakest Link and later the first two episodes of Seinfeld. Much different from the later seasons.} 

_{Read an interesting article on NFL chain gangs, and how oftentimes the jobs are passed down from one family member to another. The same people keep the job for 30 years.}

_{SHAWN GREEN [B-R Bio] is the only player in major league history to have a six-hit game where four of those hits were home runs. On 23-May-2002 playing for LAD, Green had a career day at the plate against Milwaukee Brewers‘ beautiful Miller Park, a venue barely a year old, with a single, a double and four home runs. 19 total bases! Never been done—before or since. He played for ARI in 2005-06. He holds the Los Angeles Dodger record for the most doubles in a season. Green hit 49 2B in 2003. Only Johnny Frederick’s 52 in 1929 are more for the Dodger franchise. The only time Green led the league in 2B, however, was when he hit 45 in 1999 for TOR. He donated a portion of his original signing bonus to help feed children in the city whose team he had just joined. He was drafted by TOR as their 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 1991 MLB June Amateur Draft & received a bonus of $725,000, opting out of his scholarship to Stanford. Green donated a chunk of his signing bonus to the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority Breakfast Club which provides breakfast for kids who would otherwise have gone to school hungry.}

Light Up Atlanta

Will put Christmas lights up on the front of his house. Don’t know about the back of his house of sides, which face the Atlanta Beltline. Ceil had cut greenery in Jefferson, and yesterday decorated the mantle, and added a nativity scene. I’m sure we’ll be getting a tree soon.

_{I figured out who UGA QB JT Daniels looks like: comedian David Steinberg. I posted photos of the two together – and David Steinberg liked my post. Kinda cool.}  

_{While everyone is still raving about Daniels, his stats dropped off considerably from his first game. Here’s the Total QB Rating from last weeks’ games, with the year to date rank in parenthesis.}

_{02 96.4 (1) Mac Jones Bama vs Auburn}

_{08 89.5 (3) Kyle Trask Florida vs Kentucky}

_{15 85.3 (8) Trevor Lawrence Clemson vs Pitt}

_{31 73.2 (40) Bo Nix Auburn vs Alabama}

_{40 68.9 (24) Sam Howell UNC vs Notre Dame}

_{41 68.0 C Brown Georgia State vs Ga Southern}

_{49 61.0 (113) Jeff Sims GT vs Duke}

_{52 59.6 JT Daniels UGA vs SC}

_{72 32.8 (112) Chase Bryce Duke vs GT}

_{76 25.7 (33) T Tagovailoa Maryland vs IU}

_{88 15.9 Kellen Mond Texas A&M vs LSU out of 89 QBs}

_{00 00.0 (2) Justin Fields Ohio State did not play.}

_{In 1947 the Yale baseball team played Fordham. George Bush played first base for Yale, and the Fordham centerfielder was Vin Scully.}

_{Monday: took a short lunch, and still worked until almost 6:30. Got one big project done, but have two more big things to knock out. Was after seven when I got home. Supper was black beans and rice, plus tossed salad.}  

_{For some reason the wi-fi was running slow last night. Need to hook up the wi-fi booster my friend gave me. Watched the season 2 debut of Peyton’s Places. Guests include Bill Clinton and Kurt Russell, and of course Eli and Archie.}

_{The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field on May 17, 1979. In the top of the first the Phillies batted around. Bob Boone and Randy Lerch became the first (& only) battery in history to both homer before taking the field. In the bottom of the first Cub Donnie Moore became the first relief pitcher in history to hit a triple in the first inning.}

_{My customer team at work was all set to eat out at a fancy steak restaurant this coming Saturday night, but the dinner was postponed out of caution. We’ll be able to watch Clemson@VirginiaTech. Both GT@NCState and Vandy@GA play at 4 pm.}