Rant #3,021: Sail On

How was your Thanksgiving?
 
Mine was good, a nice, relaxing day that this tired soul desperately needed.
 
The company was good, the food was good, everything was fine.
 
In the morning, I got to watch “The March of the Wooden Soldiers”—uncolorized—so I was a happy guy the entire day.
 
And then today, earlier this morning, I did what I have done on Black Friday for the past couple of years, which is to participate in Black Friday Record Store Day, where special releases come out that you cannot get anytime else during the year.
 
I didn’t like that I had to wake up so early, but I did, there were others on line who woke up even earlier than I did to be there, and it was just a lot of fun.
 
My Black Friday is pretty much over for me now, as I won’t go out to buy anything else, but I am counting the moments until my “Bermuda Short” officially begins 24 hours from now.
 
Huh?
 
What am I talking about?
 
Yes, my family and I—and my wife’s brother and his wife—will be going on a very short cruise that leaves tomorrow morning and goes to just one port, which is Bermuda.
 
We will be back later in the week, so I am hoping that the cruise is a short but sweet one.
 
We honestly were not planning on going on any cruise this year, and I still think it might be too early to go on one as far as the coronavirus is concerned, but without really looking to go on one—as you know, we did have a vacation in July—one came our way that was less expensive, and my wife and son wanted to go on it, so I agreed, too.
 
And little did I know that the cruise would come just at the right time for me, because I have been under a lot of stress lately, so this short cruise will give me time to recharge my batteries.
 
Right now, there are still a lot of hoops that you have to jump through to cruise, but once you get through all of that, you are pretty much on your way.
 
And it is a short one, so the time will go pretty quickly this time, rather than experiencing the dead spots that we usually encounter when we go to sea.
 
And for me, at least, this will be a working vacation, because you know what they say, “no work, no pay.”
 
I plan on doing some work during this vacation during off times or during the evening, just like I did during our prior vacation this year.
 
I could use the money, and other than devoting time to do this and having to think about work during what is supposed to be a time to get away from it all, it won’t be any big deal.
 
I have to secure the top Internet that the boat offers, which I will do—and pay for—right away when we get on the boat.
 
We already have Internet access, but I want the best that they offer, so I know I am going to have to pay for it, and I will.
 
But again, I will do my work on off times, in between things, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I am concerned about the Internet, but I am sure it will be OK.
 
About Bermuda … my family and I have been there one time before, but it was a very brief stay. A hurricane was coming, we had to stay in one area, and when word got out that we had to board the ship, that was that.
 
So we really never got to experience Bermuda, but this time, we have some excursions already set up that should allow us to experience whatever the island offers.
 
It should be fun.
 
And again, I know that this is going to be a different type of cruise, what with COVID still hanging around, but with the shots and recent tests, I feel that we are prepared for whatever might hit us.
 
Yes, I am a bit hesitant, but you have to go into the water to be able to swim, so that is what we are going to do.
 
So I bid you adieu for right now, and I will not be posting to the Ranting and Raving Blog for a few days.
 
I should be back here on Friday, and I will let you know how the cruise went and my feelings on the cruising experience during the endemic, which we are in right now.
 
It should be an interesting time for all of us.
 
Have a great weekend—don’t shop too much—and I will be speaking to you again in exactly one week.
 
Bermuda, here we come!
 
(And no Bermuda Triangle jokes, please!) 

Rant #3,020: Eat to the Beat

  
Happy pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday.
 
II know that some people are really chomping at the bit today, whether they are traveling for the holiday, can just about taste the holiday turkey in their mouths, and/or are salivating at the prospects of the nation’s premiere shopping day, Black Friday, and its lesser copycats, like Cyber Monday.
 
Me, I am really just looking forward to Thanksgiving Day, when we can get together as a family and forget all of out troubles for a few hours.
 
The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for myself and my family. I won’t go into detail but quite honestly, it has been nothing but a nightmare, one seemingly without end.
 
So just for one afternoon, just for a few hours, all that I want to do is to relax and enjoy the holiday feast.
 
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays which is always under attack by those who have absolutely nothing to do with their lives if they don’t get razzled about something.
 
Like Columbus Day, some people get all bent out of shape because they say that what we believe is simply a fable, but the reality of the day is so much worse.
 
They don’t celebrate these holidays, and several states don’t recognize them, or pair them with days honoring “indigenous people” to soften the blow and placate those who turn inside out when these holidays are celebrated by 99.9/10s of our population.
 
They can say and do what they want, but tomorrow is the Thanksgiving holiday, whether they like it or not.
 
It is a day to give thanks and to appreciate the lives we have in the greatest country in the world.
 
It is not a day to deride that lifestyle, it is a day to celebrate it, and to give thanks to those who have allowed us to prosper in this country.
 
It is a day of relaxation, a day of reflection, and a day to have fun.
 
Whoever feels the need to argue with that … well, I could say that I feel sorry for you, but I really don’t.
 
You are fools, plain and simple.
 
Tomorrow, before our big feats, I will do what I have always done on this holiday, beginning it with a bang by watching the original “The March of the Wooden Soldiers” starring the first of the great movie comedy teams, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
 
The movie is just so special to me, as it brings me back to my childhood and just demonstrates once again that when Hollywood wants to entertain, and not teach and lecture, it can do it as well as any institution we have in this country.
 
And towards the end of the film, when I see the wooden soldier’s head fall off as he walks through the door, I still laugh as hard as I did when I was a child.
 
It is simply a great film, one that cannot be duplicated, even though Hollywood has tried to do so.
 
Watch the original, and watch the uncolored original to get the real feel for the film.
 
I know many of you will watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it is simply not my bird, if you will.
 
I have watched it numerous times in the past, but I simply cannot get into it at this stage of my life.
 
And if memory serves me correctly, my sister and I actually attended one of these parades with my grandfather, probably around 1961 or 1962, and again, if memory serves me correctly, the occasion did not go well for either of us, and my grandfather said, “Never again,” and it has been just that for these two kids who are now all grown up.
 
Later, we will have the big feast, and I know that it is going to go down oh so good!
 
We will be stuffed to the gills, ready for sleep, but it will certainly be one of the year’s best days.
 
And then on Black Friday, I will be at my local record store for the latest version of Record Store Day, just ready to get some vinyl goodies and add them to my collection.
 
Then, just like that, it will be all over, and I will get back to the insanity of my life as it stands now.
 
But at least I will have some time to breathe before that happens.
 
To everyone, have a great Thanksgiving, and I will speak to you again on Friday.
 
And to the naysayers … let them eat … cake.
 
Gobble Gobble!

Rant #3,019: Leave Me Alone

I often get a kick out of seeing what my Yahoo news feed brings me each day, and no, I am not going to go into that today—there are no decrepit Elizabeth Hurley bikini pictures in the feed, so why bother?—but I am going to talk about something that is almost as equally amusing.
 
And that is my spam folder, an area that anyone with email has.
 
Your spam folder is supposed to contain emails that are a bit left of center, maybe a bit dangerous, click bait for viruses and such.
 
Some are so obviously warped that anyone with a brain would never open the messages, but on the surface, some are just so inane that you can get a laugh without even opening them up.
 
Occasionally, I will get an email in my spam folder that doesn’t belong in there—such as something for work with a title that meets the parameters of a scam or of spam—but generally, the stuff I get in my spam folder really is so obviously ridiculous that it is something that I would never open.
 
I read somewhere that 70 percent of all email is spam, so everyone should be monitoring their spam folder.
 
Have you checked your own spam folder lately, just to make sure that the stuff in there actually belongs in there?
 
I have, so let me talk about the “highlights” of the content that is in my spam folder … or is it the lowlights?
 
“Affordable Heater” and “Choice Home Warranty” are probably things that might show up in my regular email folder, but for whatever reason, show up in the spam folder—probably because I have received them in my regular folder, deemed them as spam, so that is where they now go.
 
No harm, no foul.
 
“You’ve won $5000 Chevron Cash Card” is where things start to get fun. I get these “winning” emails all the time, and if I clicked on these things, all I would win would be computer viruses and perhaps much worse, attempts to get at my bank accounts “to send my winnings to,” or similar stupidity.
 
Nope, not going to open these things, and I do mean never.
 
“Note From xxxx xxxx” are also ones to stay way away from. They take one of your actual contacts—people that you know, or people you correspond with--appropriate their name, and send you an “urgent” message, with links to places you don’t want to go to. I occasionally get these as supposedly “innocent” messages in my regular email folder, but I automatically mark them as spam and do away with them. I have also often contacted the people whose name is used and let them know that their name is being used for these types of email.
 
No, once again, these types of emails are never going to be open by me.
 
And then we have the potentially most fun of the lot—
 
The sexually oriented ones, which promise to teach me everything I need to know about sex, help me reach my peak of manhood, or train me to get my partner into an absolute period of ecstasy that must be experienced to fully understand.
 
Nope, these are never, ever opened, because you just know where these are going ... sand you don't want to go there.
 
So no way Jose, these are never opened—and I didn’t put their email names in this story because this is a family blog, and I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about anyway.
 
Things have changed in the spam folder over time, and I would imagine that they will continue to change as we move on through the years.
 
I remember that when the Internet was new, we would all get emails from Nigeria and other places on the African continent pretty much asking us for money in a variety of ways.
 
People fell for these things, and they didn’t make a fortune by replying to these emails, they ended up losing money because they fell for whatever this supposed intermediary said.
 
But we are supposedly smarter now, and while these do come up from time to time, I know that I have seen many less of them than I once did.
 
I also think that people that use the Internet like I do—I am on there every day whether it be for work or pleasure—get more spam emails than others do, simply because we are out there, and thought to be ripe for the taking.
 
I have become very careful in what emails I open—even those in my regular email folder—and I mark certain emails as spam on a regular basis.
 
You can’t be too sure nowadays, and with the dark web as a presence now, you certainly don’t want any of your information to get into that abyss.
 
And with spam emails still out there, I have to wonder about the mental capacity of people who create them and those who send them out.
 
Have they nothing better to do with their lives than this?
 
I am sure it is very easy money to create these things, and sending them out to many users at once is a snap, but how can they get personal satisfaction out of trying to dupe others?
 
Everything and anything for a buck, I guess.

Rant #3,018: Names Tags, Numbers and Labels

A ruling was made in New York State on Thursday that has a lot of people talking, for and against what the ruling says.
 
On that day, the New York State Education Department ordered all school districts in the state to remove “Indian” mascots and associated Native American imagery from their respective public school systems.
 
The memo, signed by State Education Department Senior Deputy Commissioner James Baldwin, warned that districts that continue to utilize Native American team names, logos, and/or imagery without current approval from a recognized tribe, "must immediately come into compliance,” or the districts found in violation would risk losing state funds.
 
Of course, this negates the history of the use of American Indian imagery and names related to sports teams and our American way of life, which began back in the late 1800s to laud these Native Americans, not to chide them.
 
Even a team name like the one used for the Cleveland American League baseball team, “The Indians,” was at least originally not used to dishonor Native Americans, but to honor them, as the name was used to honor one of the early players in franchise history, who happened to be an American Indian.
 
Of course, later on, the imagery did get a bit outside of that original testament to that Indian player, but that has all been taken care of, with the team now known as “The Guardians.”
 
There have been other similar instances in professional sports, most noteworthy being the Washington football team, which went from Redskins to Commanders.
 
And the Atlanta Braves—still the Braves whether they are in Atlanta or Milwaukee or Boston—and the team did tone down some of its imagery too.
 
But in this case, we are talking about public schools, and at least in the area I live in, the American Indian-related names have never been ;used to mock Native Americans, but to honor and revere them.
 
Right in my community, the school system’s team name is “The Chiefs,” and it was never used in a derogatory way in any way, shape or from.
 
It was used to honor these Native Americans, with the word “Chiefs” meaning "the best."
 
Look, English is an amalgam of many languages, and if we were to go to the granular level of every word, we would have to get rid of hundreds, if not thousands, of words, because they “irritated” some people.
 
In the case of the word “Chief,” we would have to get rid of not only the word, but the phrases surrounding the word, like “chief executive officer” and “editor-in-chief,” and heck, how about “commander in chief?”
 
“Chief” is used here as the top person, the best of the best, and how is that derogatory to Native Americans?
 
Look, you want to get rid of the imagery and the mascots, fine, but the name? How is the name an insult to American Indians in any way?
 
I think people have to chill out a little; some people seem to get offended by everything under the sun, looking for things to get upset about.
 
The next thing that will happen is that animal rights activists will get upset that school teams use animal names—like “The Tigers”—and they will sue to get those names removed too.
 
And of course money is tied into this, and of course, certain school districts which use the American Indian names are consulting their legal counsels to find out if they could fight this latest ruling.
 
Just what you want, money and lawyers getting into education, rather than the three R's.
 
There is a way out of all of this.
 
If a school district does not want to change their teams’ mamas when it comes to the use of American Indian monikers, it has to get approval from a recognized Indian nation to have a chance to gain approval of the name.
 
The town I live in has its very name tied into the Native Americans who once lived here, and thus the school distinct, to honor those people, named the school teams “Chiefs” in a positive way.
 
So the town I live in must get approval from that group—if those people even exist as a recognized American Indian group at this point in time—to win that approval.
 
One district near where I live actually did this years and years ago, if you want to believe what they say, so I guess if they can prove that they did gain this approval from a recognized group, they can continue to use the name without reprisal front the state.
 
This is all so very stupid and silly and a waste of time and money.
 
No matter what name you are going to use, you are going to probably offend someone, so it ends up putting the schools between a rock and a hard place, dumping agendas on them that only a minority of people in that community really care about.
 
We have just gotten out of a pandemic that put schools in predicaments that they have never seen before.
 
Kids are not getting educated, the absentee and dropout rates are at all time heights, and this is what the state cares about?