Surprises

Like many things, surprises can be good or bad.

I remember when we had a Santa Claus show airing locally. It caught my interest at say three. He did the usual Santa thing and kids ticked off items they coveted.

Sometimes the kids would stall so Santa bailed them out with asking if they would like some surprises. Of course they would quickly nod and off they'd go.

I figured out early that there is no Santa. Sorry Virginia etal. Guess that's what we'd call a spoiler. Never mind the spirit of giving etc. Personally, as an aside, I think Santa was foisted on people to sell the idea of something for nothing. Oh sure, be good, get rewarded and be bad, get sticks and stones huh? Hmm. Maybe I'd better stick to the topic at hand and save this for another time lol.

After this fact was established, I used to seek out where presents were hidden til finally we got to the point that presents were simply material wishes come true. The intent and 'spirit' were never gone. Liking something might lead to receiving it. That, to me, was reward enough. It wasn't that I didn't like surprises, I just liked to know what was what -s-.

Having a knack for uncovering things has come in handy. I'm a seeker and dig til I find what I'm looking for. It really p'o's the statists, collectivists etc -s-.

As for surprises, when something has come my way out of the blue at least to me, I am appreciative. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I could have said something good, but the bad has its worth too. I learn from everything.

Oh yes, we mustn't forget the surprise on 12/7/1941. We should never forget what happened and its results.

What about the Japanese? What about them? It would be insane to hate the people alive now for what their immediate forebears did. Terrible things were done. And people still do unspeakable things today. It's easy to just dismiss certain people in hatred. Makes it easier to control us. The Chinese come to mind.

It's the gov that should get our attention. The machinery needs to be retooled as it were. Mind you, it's a mixed bag when it comes to gov and people.

I believe there are people who want to be free everywhere. The strife that is rampant in China comes to mind. It's not advertised by lamestream press, but it exists.

Surprises should never cease to, um amaze us.

Never let it be an end in itself.

Take the results and run with them -s-.

Locker Rooms

Oh oh. Even mentioning this now will get someone to wondering about what I mean lol.

I'm talking about how there is a 'sanctity' concerning locker rooms. It's a matter of confidences.

I am in NO way talking about rape nor abuse of any kind. No matter where that takes place, it must be either immediately stopped or punished and those hurt helped.

I'm just mentioning that they have been places where people let their hair down. Deals have been done without the pressure of the boardroom, cabinet room ie official scrutiny.

By no means am I extolling anything. I'm merely pointing it up. I believe affairs for both weal and woe as well as affairs of a more personal nature have been arranged away from prying eyes.

Locker rooms are no place for the squeamish nor shy. After all it's men and women running around in the all together. Not much room for guile therefore. Thus why locker rooms are still places where people could get down to brass tacks, all cards on the table.

So I've little else to say. No, lol, I'm not speechless. I am just offering some food for thought at the end of the year.

A place is a place. How it is used or experienced is the crux. We shouldn't let something evil color our own behavior. Manipulating us in seemingly subtle or pointless ways is just control.

I'm not saying those who read this are going on an anti locker room rampage. It's simply that attitudes can be tinkered with even on such a level as we have currently with these crimes against children coming to light. Such crimes are another matter worthy of as much focus as can be mustered.

Frankly, I could use a stretch in the steam room and a dip in the pool. But I'm not doing the polar bear thing lol.

Winning Losing

Everybody loves a winner. Everybody hates a loser. So it seems.

Again the Colts come to mind. This time, what is it about some people?

We have some folks who are fair weather fans. Oh boy, when the Colts were winning and the Super Bowl etc, people went nuts. The team could do no wrong.

Now we have a 0-? seasson and the public has left in droves. Plenty of seats are available, people leave well before the end, apparently because the end is obvious. And a local restaurant hasn't had to make good their claim that if the colts win, you can eat free lol.

Yet there are still many who do remain steadfast, win lose or draw.

Crowds can be fickle. Supposedly the same crowd cheering Jesus a week later were champing at the bit to see him crucified.

There is a certain amount of group psychology going on. Let's face it, many do not think for themselves.

It's so much easier to diss someone or something, to go along with the crowd.

I'm sure some do it to play safely. They cover their bets. They may even come back like a fair weather friend or sunshine patriot, and root for the winner making a comeback. Or worse, they go with a perceived winner.

Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of the sing song teeter totter affairs of the War for Independence.

Just a thought as the year runs out.

Do we know how to pick a winner? What do you look for? Is it always so obvious and needs to be a sure thing?

Or do we decide to ride out the storm and even help turn the tide.

Just a thought.

Thoughts become actions.

Headless Teamwork

What is it with the Colts?

They won the Super Bowl a few years ago. Then a couple years later they lost but were at the Bowl. Now they're zero and ?.

I mean we could talk about team psychology. Peyton Manning is apparently out for the season so the team is clueless? It is a team isn't it?

Is it ineptitude or is it on purpose? Are the rumors of money laundering in sports true? Or do teams just suffer bad streaks sometimes?

I don't claim to know a thing about this stuff.

It just seems to me that a team should be able to be a team without one guy.

Sure Manning is essential but should he not be replaceable? I don't mean he's some tissue to wad up but should a team be so dependent on one guy?

I don't follow this stuff at least not as devotedly as some. I have no financial interest as do many. It is after all the money that counts huh? So many count on the bucks. That's not all bad of course. Free market capitalism is good methinks.

The question remains: What is a team?

A team should be able to compensate and function if one or more members are sidelined. There should be contingency training. Teamwork denotes several members working towards a goal. It can also mean surviving on one's own if the situation calls for it.

Well, this colts business is beyond me.

Then again, maybe I'm thinking of something else.

All kind of academic huh?

UNCLE

I've been rewatching The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Right now, I'm on the first season. I consider it the best for its more graphic, for the time and serious approach. Well it's as serious as series TV might have been then and as a fictional espionage program might have been for the time.

Fictional it was. But, like James Bond, which generated the spy craze of the 60s, there was some basis in truth.

Ian Fleming helped develop the show in early stages. He set up the initial framework and the character of Napoleon Solo came from him. Norman Felton, a noted producer, had consulted Fleming. Incidentally, April Dancer, the Girl From UNCLE, had started out as a suggestion from Fleming as a Monneypenny secretary to the organization chief.

Fleming had contractual conflicts with the Bond movie producers, so he had to drop out. Felton and Sam Rolfe, who worked on Have Gun Will Travel among others, pushed on. The framework was set. Now it was Hollywood's turn.

The innocent caught up in a world of espionage was a constant, even when the series digressed to the absurd in the third season. It was good to see it begin recovery to a darker more realistic fiction in the fourth. Too bad it was cancelled. Laugh In was hated by some for the longest time as it filled the air spot lol.

Among the other contributors was Alan Caillou. He was a writer, actor, soldier and agent who brought a certain professional expertise.

Though the orgs were fictitious, much of the procedure was common practice among operatives in the 60s. You can only take my word for this. Believe it or not. Tech was fictionalized but was forward thinking re comm and as for programming an agent for a specific role, that was common practice.

Understandably today there are those who are concerned about international police who are above the law. Certainly orgs have exceeded authority. I would remind you they are comparmentalized and watchers are watched.

Conjecture? Sure. I can't name names.

But UNCLE was fun and good guys beating bad guys is always a great story device.

Those who care about people fighting those who exploit and destroy.

Hmm. It DOES sound familiar doesn't it?

Laptops

My laptop is a godsend. I marvel at its utility.

I can go so many places and even if there is no outlet, battery power is available and you can have as many batteries as you can handle!

It beats the bejeebers out of a typewriter! No more wadded paper. No more white out! Spellcheck helps me though (shameless brag) I've always been an excellent speller.

Though I do research beforehand for the books and scripts I'm writing, I have immediate access to the Internet for anything I need to search for or I can go to my files to tap into the well of info at hand.

I still make handwritten notes and scribble ideas etc. Thus there are sheaves of seemingly coded refs etc. that I can run through. It's seemingly coded because my handwriting has been likedned to a drunk chicken reeling across the paper -s-.

And the laptop beats the desktop for mobility and versatility. Gig space continues to increase. Since I don't play games (Talk to my son about that lol), there is more space for notes and plenty of minutiae.

I collect a myriad eclectic bunch of facts, refs and anything under the sun/electrons that strikes my fancy.

As for getting out the word re our Republic etc, it's a powerful tool. No wonder Freedom squelchers want to regulate ie control and censor all aspects of our lives, since puters have the ability to reach us like no other medium.

Yes, I still like to meet people and do things in the socalled real world. But we can facilitate those activities that saves time and surely streamlines.

Oh, yes. If the power goes out and batteries fail, I'm able to function. I don't sit and moan in a stupor hoping for restoration of power. I read, write and live. I could, gasp, live without it if I had to.

Til that day, I'll drag my laptop most places, except for date. I prefer to give a woman my full attention -s-.

Workers Unite

Yes it's easy to take workers for granted, especially the blue collar kind.

Those who are here to serve can be faceless. As noted previously, many of us take such folks for granted. Maybe, to be nice, some just are in such a hurry that they really don't check out the qualities of people.

We should all appreciate those faceless workers who have built the roads, the building, all the things that make our lives easier.

Everyone has a role to play in this world. We can't do everything all by ourselves. And it's in our best interests to care for one another not only fairly but justly.

There is no way we can all be equal economically, but we can all participate in the kind of capitolism that benefits all.

Collectivists like to sew unrest and division as it suits them for their agenda for control. It's the same game as reace, religion etc. Being diverse to them means creating derision when difference is essential so we can be one.

Just some end of year thoughts to remind us to be appreciative and not to disparage others. I didn't say live with everyone. Thats collectivist claptrap too.

There are plenty of people in all levels of society that I don't care to be around. Oh no!

Again, it's the content of character that counts. And caring doesn't mean giving up something. It demands we simply care enough to remember we are indeed all in this together.