Thursday, April 2, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Never Enough Time
I want to share with you something that is very personal to me. I don't talk about it much at all but I think it is something that we can all relate to. I want to talk about the day my father died.
My father and I did not get along. In fact he really didn't get along with very many people. He was foul-mouthed and emotionally abusive to both me and my mother. I don't enjoy telling these things about him to anyone but it is the truth and the truth is what it is. I guess he did the best that he could. I am not saying that he was inherently bad. He was not evil but he was emotionally wounded and emotionally wounded people sometimes can do some cruel things.
On the morning of the day of his death we had an argument. He was in the bathroom and I had been working on my car and smashed my hand with the wrench and it was bleeding. I told him that I had to get in there. I said that I wished we had another bathroom. He came out screaming obscenities and calling me names. I got angry back and told him F**k you! We didn't talk after that. About three hours later, again he was in the bathroom he came out while I was watching TV. He fell backwards, hit his head on the hardwood floor and laid in front of me gasping his last few breaths looking at me with a glassy-eyed expression. It never occurred to me that somebody would die with there eyes open but I guess it is only in the movies that people die with them shut.
The paramedics came with advanced life support and bought him back three times but he ended up dying on the way to the hospital. I didn't even have the nerve to follow them to the hospital until a couple of hours later. I just knew that he did not make it. So, as fate would have it the last words that I said to my father were f**k you. He started the argument that we had but that ended up being of little consolation to me. It really did not matter, he was gone and we would never speak to each other again.
The funeral and wake were not much better. It went as well as could be expected since not only did me and my dad not get along but all of my relations on both my fathers and mothers side do not get along ether. There were several people who I just would have loved to throw out of there but at that space in time none of it seemed to really matter. My emotions were hollow except for one that of relief. Relief that we were never going to fight again. The fighting between us was ongoing. It never ended for any length of time. My upbringing was dysfunctional, my parents marriage was dysfunctional, there upbringing was dysfunctional and both of their families were dysfunctional (and still are!)
I am sitting here now on Valentines Day thinking about many things such as this. Today is more then just about romantic love . It is about the love between ourselves and anybody such as family and friends that in one way or another are close to us. let us not lose site of what is really important to us. Be careful of what you say to people that are close ti you. You may never get the chance to take it back.
My father and I did not get along. In fact he really didn't get along with very many people. He was foul-mouthed and emotionally abusive to both me and my mother. I don't enjoy telling these things about him to anyone but it is the truth and the truth is what it is. I guess he did the best that he could. I am not saying that he was inherently bad. He was not evil but he was emotionally wounded and emotionally wounded people sometimes can do some cruel things.
On the morning of the day of his death we had an argument. He was in the bathroom and I had been working on my car and smashed my hand with the wrench and it was bleeding. I told him that I had to get in there. I said that I wished we had another bathroom. He came out screaming obscenities and calling me names. I got angry back and told him F**k you! We didn't talk after that. About three hours later, again he was in the bathroom he came out while I was watching TV. He fell backwards, hit his head on the hardwood floor and laid in front of me gasping his last few breaths looking at me with a glassy-eyed expression. It never occurred to me that somebody would die with there eyes open but I guess it is only in the movies that people die with them shut.
The paramedics came with advanced life support and bought him back three times but he ended up dying on the way to the hospital. I didn't even have the nerve to follow them to the hospital until a couple of hours later. I just knew that he did not make it. So, as fate would have it the last words that I said to my father were f**k you. He started the argument that we had but that ended up being of little consolation to me. It really did not matter, he was gone and we would never speak to each other again.
The funeral and wake were not much better. It went as well as could be expected since not only did me and my dad not get along but all of my relations on both my fathers and mothers side do not get along ether. There were several people who I just would have loved to throw out of there but at that space in time none of it seemed to really matter. My emotions were hollow except for one that of relief. Relief that we were never going to fight again. The fighting between us was ongoing. It never ended for any length of time. My upbringing was dysfunctional, my parents marriage was dysfunctional, there upbringing was dysfunctional and both of their families were dysfunctional (and still are!)
I am sitting here now on Valentines Day thinking about many things such as this. Today is more then just about romantic love . It is about the love between ourselves and anybody such as family and friends that in one way or another are close to us. let us not lose site of what is really important to us. Be careful of what you say to people that are close ti you. You may never get the chance to take it back.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
I just have to vent!!
I had heard about Michael Phelps being involved in some kind of scandal but I did not know what it involved. Then I found out that it was over a picture that had surfaced on the Internet of him smoking a bong. That's what all the fuss was about? While I don't condone drug use, at least anymore, give Phelps and me a break! Its not like he's an underachiever who doesn't know the value of hard work. The biggest accomplishment of most of my former friends was smoking bongs. There is much more important topics to give attention to these days then the bad judgement of a 21 year old.
I want to make it clear from the beginning. I am not a fan of Rod Blagojevich. I never have been and most likely never will be. I had always considered him a little intellectually challenged. His Horatio Alger story of being the son of Yugoslavian immigrants always got me hearing bad violin music. In short I found him very annoying and I am quite happy that he is gone. However, I think that he did get the shaft and I will tell you some of the reasons why.
Since when does an Attorney general publicly make statements in great detail accusing someone of wrong doing before the trial , Blagojevich claims that he was informed back in December that if certain things didn't go a certain way that he was going to be impeached. Was his impeachment a forgone conclusion? This might explain why he so readily took to the media circuit. What did he think he was going to accomplish by going on the View was any one's guess. Like I said he is not the sharpest pair of scissors in the desk drawer, but if stupidity was against the law we all would be in jail at one time or another.
I believe the problem is that he stepped on too many toes during the six years that he was the Governor of Illinois. He refused to cooperate with the very people whom he need corporation from and let us not forget what happened with his own father in-law. Alderman Dick Mell is a very powerful figure in Chicago Politics whose influences stretch all the way to Springfield and it would not surprise me one bit if Mell did in fact have something to do with his impeachment.
I thought that it was highly suspect that not one person in that room came to his defense. It was called an impeachment trial but I think that the witches at the Salem Trials had a better chance then Blagojvich had in that room. What I am saying is that I believe he did not have a fair defense. He did say one thing that I found disturbing. If that could happen to a sitting Governor, it can happen to anyone.
I want to make it clear from the beginning. I am not a fan of Rod Blagojevich. I never have been and most likely never will be. I had always considered him a little intellectually challenged. His Horatio Alger story of being the son of Yugoslavian immigrants always got me hearing bad violin music. In short I found him very annoying and I am quite happy that he is gone. However, I think that he did get the shaft and I will tell you some of the reasons why.
Since when does an Attorney general publicly make statements in great detail accusing someone of wrong doing before the trial , Blagojevich claims that he was informed back in December that if certain things didn't go a certain way that he was going to be impeached. Was his impeachment a forgone conclusion? This might explain why he so readily took to the media circuit. What did he think he was going to accomplish by going on the View was any one's guess. Like I said he is not the sharpest pair of scissors in the desk drawer, but if stupidity was against the law we all would be in jail at one time or another.
I believe the problem is that he stepped on too many toes during the six years that he was the Governor of Illinois. He refused to cooperate with the very people whom he need corporation from and let us not forget what happened with his own father in-law. Alderman Dick Mell is a very powerful figure in Chicago Politics whose influences stretch all the way to Springfield and it would not surprise me one bit if Mell did in fact have something to do with his impeachment.
I thought that it was highly suspect that not one person in that room came to his defense. It was called an impeachment trial but I think that the witches at the Salem Trials had a better chance then Blagojvich had in that room. What I am saying is that I believe he did not have a fair defense. He did say one thing that I found disturbing. If that could happen to a sitting Governor, it can happen to anyone.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Back To The Future
A father and his 10 year old son have a talk on their camping trip in the not too distant future--
Dad, -- Yes Son. I was thinking. What was life like in the late 20th-early 21st Century? I mean how did people live back then? Well Son, (laughs) that was a little before my time. Ask your Grandfather he could tell you more about it then I could. Is there anything that you could tell me? Sure, what is it that you want to know? How did people get around back then? Well, they usually traveled from place to place in vehicles called cars and trucks. These vehicle's were powered by something called an internal combustion engine which burned a fossil fuel called gasoline. What was that like? It was noisy, inefficient and dirty. The burning of the fossil fuels polluted our air with toxic gases. You mean there was no nuclear fusion or renewable energy technology? No Son that came much later. The worlds economy was based on these fossil fuels until the supply ran out. Oh, about the late 2040's
How did people communicate with each other? Well, they talked into these things called telephones. You mean that there were no amplification stations that could tune into our thoughts an sent them to someone else? No, that too was way off into the future. In fact, your Grandfather told me one time that he remembers it being a big black box on the wall. You talked into something called a receiver that attached to the phone with a long cord made of copper wire. That was in the 1960's I believe. Oh Dad! Your teasing me! No son, I swear on my I -consciousness that It's the truth!
How long did people live? That Son is the most tragic part of that era. People died young. You were lucky to have 70-80 years. Sometimes not even that! Aging was a miserable experience that was full of sickness, pain. and then death. Just think Son, all that human potential wasted. Now of course we have I-consciousness transfer into genetically engineered clones. So our life expectancy is many hundreds of years. Dad? Wasn't it grandfathers 157th birthday last week? Yes. He said that he was going to go rock climbing on that asteroid that he always wanted to visit.
I heard that at one time people worked at these thing called jobs. They used to do this for pieces of paper and metal called money. This is how people lived? Yes this is true. Jobs were usually physical places such as stores and factories where people worked 40 to 50 hours a week to give us our physical goods and services. No kidding! Wait, it gets even stranger! there was no Internet as well. At least the way that we know it today. Wow! no robotic servants or nanotechnologies where goods build themselves. That's right. We had to do all of that ourselves!
Boy! it sure doesn't seem like that was a very good time! Oh, I suppose that sometimes it had its charm but there was a lot of pain and suffering. There were wars, disease, poverty and crime. That was before World War Three. After that human civilization finally learned to live in peace.
Now here we are in the year 2117 in this perfect society where pain and suffering are obsolete. I love you Dad. I love you Son. Mars is beautiful this time of year isnt it Dad? It sure is Son. It sure is--
To find where I got the inspiration to write this story please visit my business blog
at http://www.drhasbusiness.blogspot.com/
Peace, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Don (Reddog 63)
Dad, -- Yes Son. I was thinking. What was life like in the late 20th-early 21st Century? I mean how did people live back then? Well Son, (laughs) that was a little before my time. Ask your Grandfather he could tell you more about it then I could. Is there anything that you could tell me? Sure, what is it that you want to know? How did people get around back then? Well, they usually traveled from place to place in vehicles called cars and trucks. These vehicle's were powered by something called an internal combustion engine which burned a fossil fuel called gasoline. What was that like? It was noisy, inefficient and dirty. The burning of the fossil fuels polluted our air with toxic gases. You mean there was no nuclear fusion or renewable energy technology? No Son that came much later. The worlds economy was based on these fossil fuels until the supply ran out. Oh, about the late 2040's
How did people communicate with each other? Well, they talked into these things called telephones. You mean that there were no amplification stations that could tune into our thoughts an sent them to someone else? No, that too was way off into the future. In fact, your Grandfather told me one time that he remembers it being a big black box on the wall. You talked into something called a receiver that attached to the phone with a long cord made of copper wire. That was in the 1960's I believe. Oh Dad! Your teasing me! No son, I swear on my I -consciousness that It's the truth!
How long did people live? That Son is the most tragic part of that era. People died young. You were lucky to have 70-80 years. Sometimes not even that! Aging was a miserable experience that was full of sickness, pain. and then death. Just think Son, all that human potential wasted. Now of course we have I-consciousness transfer into genetically engineered clones. So our life expectancy is many hundreds of years. Dad? Wasn't it grandfathers 157th birthday last week? Yes. He said that he was going to go rock climbing on that asteroid that he always wanted to visit.
I heard that at one time people worked at these thing called jobs. They used to do this for pieces of paper and metal called money. This is how people lived? Yes this is true. Jobs were usually physical places such as stores and factories where people worked 40 to 50 hours a week to give us our physical goods and services. No kidding! Wait, it gets even stranger! there was no Internet as well. At least the way that we know it today. Wow! no robotic servants or nanotechnologies where goods build themselves. That's right. We had to do all of that ourselves!
Boy! it sure doesn't seem like that was a very good time! Oh, I suppose that sometimes it had its charm but there was a lot of pain and suffering. There were wars, disease, poverty and crime. That was before World War Three. After that human civilization finally learned to live in peace.
Now here we are in the year 2117 in this perfect society where pain and suffering are obsolete. I love you Dad. I love you Son. Mars is beautiful this time of year isnt it Dad? It sure is Son. It sure is--
To find where I got the inspiration to write this story please visit my business blog
at http://www.drhasbusiness.blogspot.com/
Peace, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Don (Reddog 63)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A man, his son and a snow shovel
I would like to share something that happened to me last weekend that I have to tell you about. It was about 2 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. I had not been outside to shovel the snow yet and overnight we got a three-inch fresh supply of the white stuff. I was sitting with my 75 year-old mother watching TV when we heard a knock at the door. My mother answered. It was a man, about 30 years old with his son who looked to be about 10 years old asking if we would be interested in the two of them shoveling our snow. My mother politely declined and they went on their way.
I didn't have to think about it for too long before I realized what was going on. This man had most likely lost his job and they were forced to do this to make ends meet. Now mind you, I have nothing against working for a Dollar but it did remind me of the stories about people during the Great Depression selling apples on street corners. In order for all of you out there to understand where I am coming from, I have to tell you a little bit about the history of the area which I live.
I live on the far South side of Chicago less then a ten minute walk from a major industrial area. This area at one time was one of the largest in the United States if not the world! The manufacturing that took place here was so crucial to the war effort that back in the 1940's the Roosevelt administration took Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle on a war time tour of the factories. Churchill after seeing the industrial capacity said that he was greatly impressed and encouraged!! Not many people around here know that. We just took it for granted that all the factories and the jobs that came with them would always be here.
Johnson and Johnson, Continental Can, Turtle wax, Bethlehem Steel, 3M, Miles Laboratories, Dodge, Borden ( Cracker Jack was made here) Lever Brothers were just a few. The jobs have been gradually leaving us for about thirty years now but in the last seven years or so they have REALLY left here. Now there is virtually nothing left as the industrial park is about ninety percent vacant.
Is this what America has come to? I know that much of this is due to changes in the economy and certain trends that could not be forseen but how much of this is because of high taxes, government polices which encourage companies to move over seas, corporte greed, etc...
About the man, his son and the snow shovel. I hope that we have a lot of snow this Winter because I am very afraid that things in this county are going to get much, much worse.
Don R. (red dog63)
I didn't have to think about it for too long before I realized what was going on. This man had most likely lost his job and they were forced to do this to make ends meet. Now mind you, I have nothing against working for a Dollar but it did remind me of the stories about people during the Great Depression selling apples on street corners. In order for all of you out there to understand where I am coming from, I have to tell you a little bit about the history of the area which I live.
I live on the far South side of Chicago less then a ten minute walk from a major industrial area. This area at one time was one of the largest in the United States if not the world! The manufacturing that took place here was so crucial to the war effort that back in the 1940's the Roosevelt administration took Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle on a war time tour of the factories. Churchill after seeing the industrial capacity said that he was greatly impressed and encouraged!! Not many people around here know that. We just took it for granted that all the factories and the jobs that came with them would always be here.
Johnson and Johnson, Continental Can, Turtle wax, Bethlehem Steel, 3M, Miles Laboratories, Dodge, Borden ( Cracker Jack was made here) Lever Brothers were just a few. The jobs have been gradually leaving us for about thirty years now but in the last seven years or so they have REALLY left here. Now there is virtually nothing left as the industrial park is about ninety percent vacant.
Is this what America has come to? I know that much of this is due to changes in the economy and certain trends that could not be forseen but how much of this is because of high taxes, government polices which encourage companies to move over seas, corporte greed, etc...
About the man, his son and the snow shovel. I hope that we have a lot of snow this Winter because I am very afraid that things in this county are going to get much, much worse.
Don R. (red dog63)
Friday, December 5, 2008
My introduction to the world
Hello planet Earth!!! My name is Don and I am from Chicago. I have started several blogs this afternoon on various topics and this one just happens to be the one on my personal views and experiences on life.
Please feel free to visit my blogs at anytime and post a comment or two. Until then, Peace and Happy Holidays!!!
Please feel free to visit my blogs at anytime and post a comment or two. Until then, Peace and Happy Holidays!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
