Cold, wind, did I mention "lots of SNOW?!"

The 2010s have seen a lot of what is referred to as "Winter Events" not only here in NC but up and down the East Coast.  We have had Pittsburgh-like temps since New Year's with quite a bit of ice and snow while Pittsburgh and the rest of the Northeast has been hit with Arctic-like temps and record ice and snow.

I hate to see what the actual Arctic must be like this January.

Could you tell the difference?

If anything, at least people might (?) be getting used to it.  I have not seen as many wreaks out on the road this time around.  I also noticed people were dressed for it this time--no shivering goofballs at the grocery store wearing shorts with a bewildered look on their face wondering if a new Ice Age was upon them.

As long as you don't see sabre-tooth tigers prowling around the back yard, things will work out.

If you do, well......

The cats go out to the carport and venture no further.  They batted at the white stuff and even ate some of it, but quickly came back inside.  Michelle and I tromped around and saw only our own footprints, so it seemed everyone was taking the advice of Muffins the cat.  My running sked was completely destroyed so, I will pick that up again on Monday.

Naturally my Pittsburgh Penguins were in Raleigh to play the Hurricanes and naturally I could not go, not because of the weather, but because the game was sold out!

Nothing stops hockey!

Oh well, we lost 2-1 so such is life!

The Penguins will be back in a couple of weeks and hopefully, someone in the stands will be someplace else!

Putting a bow on 2017, on to 2018!

The year is drawing to a close and it is time to take a quick look back before charging into something new, if for no other reason than to remember what NOT to do!  LOL

2017 was a fun year as Michelle and I traveled up and down the East Coast.  We resolve to go West this year and see some stuff we haven't before.  I need to catch up on yardwork and there are several books to be written.  It never ends, but that is the way I like it.

Reffing football was something new this year.  The thing I noticed most at the football games was how incredibly insecure people were.  Coaches, players, fans, and even some other refs.  Of course, I had people yell at me when I threw a flag, but I laughed at them and assessed the penalty anyway.  No one tried to come after me even when I threw one coach out of a game!

I am pretty easy going but when a coach start dropping F bombs and screaming (this was a game with six year olds), it is time for him to go and I had not problem personally escorting him off the field.  There are basic standards to maintain....end of story.

I like teaching history at community colleges and I will stick with that. Plus I will ref more football games.  There are other things I am going to try so I will keep you updated.

Just remember, the world is a crazy place and it always has been.  Sometimes you have to put your foot down to keep it relatively sane.  No fuss, nothing dramatic, just do it.

Polite yet firm, Canadian style with some Pittsburgh steel.

Time to do some stuff!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The airline problem

Air rage incidents rose again....partly because of more flights and partly because,well, air rage incidents rose.

The airlines and their passengers are caught in a vicious cycle.

The passengers are squeezed into small cabins, leading to anger, especially after waiting in line for hours, dealing with security and getting ripped off on a never ending stream of "fees".  They go bonkers which leads to stewardesses becoming more paranoid, which leads to more angry passengers and so on.....

The people making decisions that make everyone miserable--airline execs--are not on site to deal the with the misery, focusing only on how to squeeze even more dollars out of passengers who have become prisoners and air staff who are turning into prison guards.

If you are looking for a truly miserable place full of unhappy people, go to the airport.  No one--passengers, staff, security--looks happy.  It is a microcosm of everything that is wrong in the 21st century.

Something is going to give and it can be headed of by following the Golden Rule--treating others as you would like to be treated--but with such selfish, narcissistic people on all sides of the issue, it is hard to forsee anyone doing the right thing.

At least the news will be interesting. 

Canadian Super Bowl

Canada's Super Bowl--the Grey Cup--is today, pitting Calgary  and Toronto against each other.

I played briefly (very briefly) in Canada and the three downs and 110 yard field takes some getting used to.  If the field looks crowded, its because there are 12 men on the field!

There is a lot of snow coming down too, making this the first snowy Grey Cup since 1996. 

The Canadian Football League season runs a little earlier than the NFL, starting in July and ending in November. That is to avoid the awful weather of the Great White North's winter.  Sometimes the snow hits anyway!

I have always been surprised by the amount of passing in Canadian football, especially considering the whether.  That is what happens when you have three downs instead of four.  It can come as a bit of a shock when you grow up with Pittsburgh-style smashmouth football.

When it comes to things Canadian, I'm a Westerner, so GO CALGARY!!!

Is Germany a democracy?

Remember the last time Germany had problems forming a government?

The German election of 2017 is an exercise in chaos, which something the ordinarily well organized Germans are not known for.

Angela Merkel won 41% of the vote and cannot form a government.  With such a low vote, Merkel;s Christian Democratic Party is not able to form a partnership with its traditional partner the Christian Socialist Union.  The usual partner forming mechanism is not working for a variety of reasons.  Some point to Moslem immigration while others speak of growing anti-European Union sentiment.  There may be a myriad of other reasons too.

German politics, since 1945, have tended toward coalition building so one party does not become too dominant.  The reason: 1933-1945...look it up.

The European Union has faced criticism that it is too bureaucratic and undemocratic.  Germany is starting to face the same critics.  This behind the scenes coalition building makes everything seem too secretive.

The result is that the CDP is reaching across the political spectrum to its opponents to build a coalition. 

That generally does not work.

When German politics become interesting, the rest of Europe takes notice.

Hopefully they bet it together.  Makes you happy America has the Atlantic and Pacific on both sides.

Russian Revolution 100th Anniversary

A century ago today, the world was shaken by the Russian Revolution, toppling the three century old Romanov dynasty and bringing in a Communist superstate and launching Russia onto an oddesy that would shape the 20th century.

The Soviet Union would last until 1991, but until then, the USSR helped crush Nazi Germany and after the war, it was a rival to the United States for world domination and had a nuclear arsenal that rivaled its American rival.

They could have destroyed the planet.

The Soviet Union also was a showcase for the failure of Communism.  The bloodthirsty collectivication of agriculture and mass purges made it a close second to Hitler in mass killing.

After 1991, Russia re-emerged from the Soviet wreckage and it was in terrible shape, attempting to vault into capitalism from communism in a bout of "shock therapy".  The result was another Time of Troubles.  In the face of what Moscow regarded as Western imperialism--NATO expansion and the bombing of Serbia in 1999--Russia began to rebuild itself as Vladimir Putin stepped forward to bring his nation back onto  the international stage.

The 21st century has seen Russia become a powerful country again.  While it might not be the world wide menace its Soviet predecessor was, Russia is clearly a Great Power again.

It has been a wild century for Russia, but for a country that lived through Mongols and Nazis, it was just another hundred years.