I am embarrassed…

Since the Paris terrorist attacks, I’ve been doing some research on ISIS and all their terrible deeds. Prior to that, I’d been on somewhat of a news fast for a very long time.

I feel terribly that I didn’t know about the ISIS bombings in Beirut on Thursday. Suicide bombings killed 43 people and injured over nearly 250. And last week’s casualties are just the tip of the iceberg.

While I still don’t understand the issues behind the turmoil in the Middle East, what I do know is the unrest is affecting all of us around the world to varying degrees as indicated by this chart from the New York Times showing ISIS attacks, inspirations, and arrested suspects by county in the last year.

I’m scared. I’m praying. I’m learning.

And, most importantly, I will continue doing what I can to help make life better for all the people I come in contact with.

While they may not seem like much, a kind word, a helping hand, and a smile may help spread love and acceptance one by one by one…

Dear Gentle Blog Reader,

Like most of the rest of the world,  I’m in sad shock over the terrorists attacks in Paris.

I’m at a loss for words and while it would feel better to go into ostrich – mode,  that’s not helpful.

But,  honestly,  other than prayer, what can I do?

If you know,  please let me know…

I’ve always liked Thanksgiving as a holiday.

It contains my favorite three F’s: family, food, and football.

But lately it seems like Thanksgiving has become the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays. If Thanksgiving could talk, it would say, “I don’t get no respect!”

Halloween is getting bigger every year. Decorations for it go on sale immediately after Back to School supplies hit their peak.

Stores replace Halloween merchandise with Christmas decorations and merchandise.

And I get that. It’s all to make a buck or two.

But what I don’t get is people rushing Christmas decorations.

About one in five homes in our neighborhood already have their Christmas lights put up and/or Christmas wreaths adorn their doors.

But what about Thanksgiving! When is it its turn for special decorations?

I’ve got my ‘fall’ decorations up and I won’t take them down until after Thanksgiving weekend. Next year I think I’ll do this with flowers and pumpkins and squash.

I don’t want to rush into Christmas.

Let alone start shopping for it…

Competition in biology and sociology, is a contest between two or more organisms, animals, individuals, groups, etc., for territory, a niche, for a location of resources, for resources and goods, for mates, for prestige, for recognition, for awards, for group or social status, or for leadership. Competition is the opposite of cooperation. It arises whenever at least two parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared or which is desired individually but not in sharing and cooperation. (From Wikipedia)

Until recently, one of the skills lacking in my pickleball tool kit is competitiveness. I truly didn’t care if I won or lost games. I was fine being bunny #1–last in the race to the finish…

Some of the people I play with can recite the scores in each of their daily games. And good for them.

I am usually more concerned about learning lots, laughing, and getting a good sweat on.

I’ve had other players tell me that I should take more ‘kill’ shots and that I don’t ‘put it away’ enough.

And that was probably true. I would have rather kept playing than end the game.

But that all changed because of a player named “Herb” and because we’re going to start competing in a ladder league for pickleball.

First, all about the ladder league. A ladder league is designed so that players most often play with others of similar skill levels. A player’s ranking on a ladder is based on a winning percentage (ratio of points won to total points possible). Players move up or down the ladder based on their cumulative winning percentage.

After the first few weeks of the ladder league play, higher skilled players will have higher winning percentages and be ranked higher on the ladder.

Newer players and players who don’t adapt their play to their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses will have lower winning percentages and be ranked lower on the ladder.

While I hope to use all the skills I’ve worked so hard to develop and move up the ladder, over the last few days I’ve decided that I only want to be higher than Herb and some of his friends.

Herb and his friends are very similar in many ways. They are in their late 60’s and early 70’s; they believe a woman’s place is NOT in the gym on the pickleball court; and they believe that they are better than most of the male players and ALL of the female players.  (Player pictured below is NOT Herb  but looks a lot like him.)

Herb and I played against one another today. He was trying spin shots and trick plays to beat me and my partner. I was fine with that until I saw the look of disgust in his eyes whenever I played one of his shots well. Then  I decided the gloves were off; that’s when I started playing his shots right back at his feet to make him miss.

If a man made those shots, he’d say, “Good shot.” If a woman (any woman, not just me) made them, he was very quiet.

Obviously, playing against Herb and his cronies is helping me develop my competitive side.

I can’t wait to beat the sh*t out of them!!!!!!

And I’ll wave to them from my place higher up on the ladder. 🙂

Note: I do not condone stealing of any kind. This is all tongue-in-cheek…

Early on Saturday morning, a 14 year old boy stole a pastry cargo van while it was parked at a convenience store in nearby Caldwell.

The van was owned by Pastry Perfection, and it was delivering donuts to Jackson convenience stores across the valley in the pre-dawn hours.

Unbeknownst to the thief, the van was equipped with a GPS tracking device.  And he was quickly apprehended by the local police not far from where he stole the vehicle.

He’s in a slew of trouble because he had placed drug paraphernalia, alcohol and a knife in the cargo van just before he stole it.

A while he’s in trouble because of all the laws he broke, he’s also not a very smart thief.

Why?

Pastry Perfection is just not that good of a bakery.

Trust me; I know because I keep trying to let them prove that they are good.

But they are not.

They have ONE really good donut. It’s called a Glazed Pretzel. Think of it like a cinnamon roll only made like a pretzel turned in on itself. It’s quite scrumptious.

All of their other donuts, at least the ones I’ve tried, are bland.

In fact, almost all of their pastries are bland. It’s like they’ve made them for an old people’s home. There’s very little flavor and even less texture.

So if that kid was looking for a good donut to satisfy his munchies, he stole the wrong van.

He should have looked for the Country Donuts truck.  They are much better!

You know when your insurance agent ends the phone call with, “Have a better day!”, things haven’t gone that well up to that point of the day…

I had two insurance agents tell me the same thing within ten minutes. So I’m assuming that line–“Have a better day!”–is something they learn in insurance school.

On my way to pickleball this morning, I was involved in a car wreck.

I’m fine and so are the drivers of the other two cars.

Two of us were stopped in traffic and the other driver forgot to stop. She (Car #1) ran into me (Car #2) which pushed me into the car in front of me (Car #3). The police officer called to the scene told us all that Car #1 was clearly at fault.

Thankfully no one was hurt. The cars, however, didn’t come away unscathed. My car is the white SUV. 

What was interesting to me was that Car #1 never said much at all. I think she asked if I was ‘okay’. I assumed that we were all ‘okay’ because we were all ambulatory and no one was bleeding.  (For the record, I never believed in whiplash until it happened to me, so I know not so sign off on a medical release right away. Whiplash often doesn’t set in until later…)

Anyway, Car #1 never said, “I’m sorry.” or “Wow, I messed up.” She did say that it was her first accident which surprised me because she was in her early 40’s.

Car #3 was a young high school student and this was her first accident, too. I didn’t find out until I talked with her insurance company that Car #3 remembers two distinct impacts to her car.

That was a surprise to me because I remember only two impacts to my car: one from Car #1 followed shortly there after by my car hitting Car #3.

The front of my car is damaged but the damage is significantly less than the back. And the back of Car #3 has minimal damage (at least to my untrained eyes).

Long story short, now Car #3’s insurance company is saying that they are not sure if I’m not at fault for the damage to her car.

Hopefully between witness testimony and police reports this will all be resolved quickly, at least insurance time quickly… 🙂