Ten straight days without alcohol is an impressive start to the New Year, although I can’t say the same about sugary sweets. Any consumption restraint on my part is a sobering thought. I am expecting a Flaviar whiskey delivery today, but it will stay in the box for at least a few more weeks until this streak is broken. My running streak now stands at 4,761 days and counting.
As far as the year 1913: “February 1 – New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the world’s largest train station. February 3 – The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income taxes. February 4 – Rosa Parks is born.”
Today is “Matinee Monday” with plans to see the The King’s Man. It will remind me of a tough day in my marriage many years ago when I was banned from the house. I spent two nights sleeping in the Starbuck’s parking lot near our neighborhood, not knowing where to go, and two more in the car in the underground lot of my office building, thinking my sentence would surely soon end. I showered at the office, after completing my run each morning, and went to my desk like nothing was different from any other day even though I was embarrassed. I retreated to the movie theatre on Saturday for a nap and watched three movies in a row, including the first King’s Man: The Secret Service and Fifty Shades of Grey. I must have slept through the third because I can’t remember what it was. After that, I went to a downtown Marriott hotel to complete my full week of homelessness. Thankfully, there have been no other marital issues since that time nearly 7 years ago.
My wife and I finished episode four of 1883 last night and another couple Peaky Blinders’ shows before realizing there was no water. It turned out to be a city issue that affected several neighborhoods and was restored an hour later. IU won its second straight BIG match-up against Minnesota yesterday, in the midst of the NFL final games that determined the Playoff picture. The Colts were eliminated and the Bears lost again, but this did not detract from the euphoria of watching winning basketball. Now, if the Hoosiers could just pick up a road victory, my overall perspective on life would be glowing. My mood tends to still be strangely dictated by what happens on the basketball court – so I’m feeling good today.
In 1910 war was declared on Germany and the U.S. entered World War 1. Both my grandfathers, William J. Johnston (1918 at age 22) and Ross A. Hancher (1917 at age 22), fought for our country. Thank you both for your service and for being great role models for me in life. We would come together as a family when Ross’ daughter, Catherine, married William’s son, Burton in 1946. I was then adopted five years later, along with my younger sister, added in 1955. I thankfully avoided military service.
I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon for my annual wellness exam. I’ve not been having any major health issues other than the self-imposed stiffness and soreness associated with running every day. My first acupuncture session earlier this week proved relatively ineffective. I have another attempt scheduled for next week, along with a chiropractor appointment. An eye exam is also planned for later this month. With all this attention to my health this month, I’m sure they will find something wrong. I give blood next week and have passed two Covid tests already, so I’ll certainly have my share of New Year poking and prodding. I’ve managed to stay away from alcohol as part of my January resolution, but sweets consumption has actually gotten worse.
We continue to watch Peaky Blinders on Netflix about British spies and gangs. As far as TV sports, IU won a big basketball game over Ohio State last night, bolstering my fading hopes for an elusive tournament bid come March. Football also signed a promising QB prospect, a transfer from Missouri, so things are looking up in Bloomington. Culturally, we spent yesterday afternoon, Tourist Thursday, at the Venice Art Center following lunch in their café. We also signed up for an Eagles cover band concert here in the community center – After Eagles. Florida is known to be the cover band capital of the world, probably since a majority of the aging population can’t see or hear clearly, so these copycat groups sound better to them than they actually are. We were not pleased with the Journey/Styx act that we saw here a few months ago, so maybe we aren’t as far “over the hill” as some of our Florida peers.
I woke up again this morning with a sore throat, probably an indication that my Covid test results will come back positive. However, my run this morning was the best my body has felt in some time, so maybe I’m already on the path to recovery. There was little back pain and no trouble breathing. It was day #4,752 of “The Streak” to kick-off the New Year. I’ll continue to take it easy the rest of the day – more Bowl games to watch, as the National Championship has come down to a SEC showdown. IU also has a basketball game against Penn State tomorrow afternoon if it isn’t cancelled. It’s hard to anticipate and get excited about anything these days with the dreaded virus looming. Purdue ended their football season on a positive “note” in the Music City Bowl against Tennessee.
A college fraternity buddy sent me a New Years greeting this morning, reminding me of a hometown party I supposedly took him to when we were Freshmen. At least I think it was New Years Eve 1969 but could have been 1970, more than 50-years ago. It was before drugs were ever a factor in my life, and a friend of mine’s Italian mom would let us drink alcohol if we were confined to her home. There were no girls at any of these basement parties that I can ever remember, except Eleanor. We were still of course underage but with her supervision things never got out of hand. Probably the most exciting part of the evening was a game of RISK, seeking World domination. Either year, Notre Dame would have played Texas in the Cotton Bowl, so we probably stayed the next day to watch it. I hated ND back then, but any good Catholic family like this one would have supported the Irish. It was in a time when a Bowl invitation actually meant something.
IU did not earn a bowl invitation this year after a disastrous season that had high expectations. Purdue certainly added a exclamation mark by reclaiming the Bucket. I haven’t been to a Bowl game since New Year’s Eve of 1993, 28-years ago. The Hoosiers lost to the Hokies in Shreveport, but we salvaged the occasion by making it to the streets of New Orleans for a midnight kiss from strangers plus a reward of beads, a memorable New Years Eve. Last night was not so memorable with both of us a bit under the weather. A bottle of bubbly and a tasty pasta put us both to sleep early. I woke up near midnight but just before the ball completed dropping the TV timer shut off automatically. Welcome 2022!
The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886, while 20 African Americans were massacred in Carrolton, Mississippi and riots broke out in Seattle over anti-Chinese sentiments. Nothing seems to have changed since the Civil War, extending into the present day. Statues are being torn down – it’s a good thing that Lady Liberty is on an island. Deadly tornados ripped through the Midwest yesterday with little bias over who was affected. I was home most of the day, feeling a bit under the weather, but this morning’s run and the accompanying sweat seems to have flushed the troublesome bug out. I wish it was that easy with racial bias!
We salvaged a couple of pool lounge chairs from a distant neighbor, saving the expense planned for next year. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. We simply now need to buy some new cushions and our outdoor furniture needs will be mostly complete. It’s difficult to get new stuff anyway with shipping backed up for months. This will serve our needs until something better comes along, a practical find for my wife. With a sunny forecast, I intend to watch today’s IU game on the lanai and perhaps take another dip in the pool.
I suffered another heartbreaking loss yesterday, to add to my sports frustration. The Portland Timbers lost the MLS Championship to NYC in a shootout, after a dramatic come from behind tying goal in regulation. IU, Timbers, Bears, White Sox, Cubs, Colts, Pacers, Trailblazers, Ducks, Illini, Beavers, and Longhorns – my long list of losers that I’ve adopted in our many moves from state to state. Little luck in recent years cheering for these favorites. Maybe Next Year?
In the year 1885, American inventor LaMarcus Adna Thompson patents a roller coaster. Life has been one ever since. My son-in-law has never been on one or to an amusement park for that matter. That’s why we’re taking him to Disneyworld for Christmas. It will be worth the price of admission to watch him relive a childhood that apparently he never had. Granted, there are few such parks in the Northwest where he grew up, His thrills have been found on mountaintops – climbing, skiing, and hiking. My amusement park adventures date back to local carnivals in my hometown and a “daring” mini-coaster ride on what I think they called the Mad Mouse? Mostly, it was a merry-go-round, a bunch of carnie games, Tilt-A-Wheel, House of Mirrors maze, and a Haunted House, as I recall. I first went to Disneyworld as a young adult just after it opened 50 years ago.
I started today feeling a bit puny and only ran the minimum mile. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, including my sluggish pace. We went out to dinner last night at Luna, a local restaurant owned in part by Alabama football Hall-of-Famer Marty Lyons, who went on to play for the New York Jets. Afterwards, we sat under the stars on a park bench and listened to a group play a set of one-hit wonders. It was a great “Date Night.” I only had a couple glasses of wine, so I don’t think that it had an influence on my condition this morning. Without much energy, I’m sitting here watching the Netflix series, Outer Banks, thinking that it’s really nothing more than a childhood flashback of The Hardy Boys.
This afternoon the Portland Timbers meet New York for the MLS soccer crown. It will be played on the Portland pitch, a first time advantage for the home team. I still have the scarf from the 2015 Championship, six-years ago, framed in my office. It could happen again today, a bright spot in what has been a tough few years for all my teams, as I vented about in yesterday’s post. (See Post #1884). My Portland friends are getting together for a special “Leadership Luncheon” to enjoy the game, reminiscent of the watch party in the Skype Studio where I saw victory all those years ago. Go Timbers!
I try to start each day with a little history lesson in conjunction with the number of my blog post. In this case, I take you back to the year 1884: “May 17 – Alaska becomes a United States territory. June 13 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson opens “Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway”, one of the earliest roller coasters, at Coney Island, New York City. August 5 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.” I also forgot to mention in yesterday’s ramblings that the Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883.
I hope to get to Alaska in 2022, leaving only Maine on my 50-state bucket list of visitation. The cruise we are taking will make four stops in the vast territory that has now been part of the United States for 137-years and officially became the 49th state in January of 1959, 62-years ago. We then cross just south of the Bering Strait at Dutch Harbor into Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, ending in Toyko, Japan. According to the Viking Cruise site, only 284-days to go until launch in Vancouver, B.C. It will be a memorable way to see the high seas.
Continuing with yesterday’s rant, I am a bitter man about sports. This is nothing new, stemming from years of envy of other fans while my teams always seemed to fall short. I’m tired of losing to Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Wisconsin – not to mention every other BIG program. Purdue finally achieved #1 status for the first time in history, but I felt resentful. After IU basketball lost at Wisconsin for the 19th straight time, I also felt hopeless. There should be little satisfaction in knowing the the Boilers lost last night on a last second shot by Rutgers – their claim to #1 short lived. Yet, it brought a certain sense of relief, but only because I don’t know any obnoxious Rutgers’ fans. It puts Baylor in the driver’s seat with a chance for back-to-back titles.
In recent years, I’ve seen IU lose to Maryland for the NCAA soccer crown. I’ve watched the endless streak of victories by Purdue over IU in basketball. I’ve been through a winless conference season by IU in football, after silly expectations of a potential championship. Even the bucket went back to West Lafayette. I’ve witnessed the string of coaches that have come and gone at my Alma Mater after failing to be competitive. In the process, other schools have surpassed us in prominence and this has led to great anguish and disappointment.
We’re in the middle of an unusual week, with most of our routines out of sorts. There was no “Matinee Monday” or “Sunset Tuesday.” “Tourist Thursday” happened on Tuesday, so maybe a movie is in order for today. There are no real rules in retirement, so we’re free to be flexible with our days, but it’s helpful to maintain our themes so we know what day of the week it is. For my wife, bridge is now happening on Mondays, with tap on Wednesdays and Fridays. There’s been a hiatus on water aerobics due to her rib injury and pool accessibility. The cabinet guy is coming tomorrow (Friday) to discuss our office shelves, outdoor kitchen, and custom closet additions. Never a dull moment.
We’ll probably establish a new routine once the holidays are over and we’ve returned from Disneyworld. I’m already losing my enthusiasm for IU basketball after their 19th consecutive loss in Madison last night. Things looked so promising in the first half. My wife doesn’t understand why I get so wrapped up in this game played by kids – none of which has ever seen IU win an away game against Wisconsin in their lifetimes. I fear that “Game Days” on Thursdays and Saturdays will be filled with disappointment, as they have been for years now. Maybe she’s right? I’ve lost any contact with the school other than televised sports over the past 20 years, so why do I continue this troubled allegiance? I haven’t even visited the campus in five years and don’t personally know any of these kids that I rely on for a winner’s high via association. I felt it slip away in the second half of the silly game I was watching last night.
Why does it matter so much if IU wins or loses? Why does it affect me emotionally after all these years? I enjoyed the years we were winning but lately it’s led to despair. I need to get out of sports rather than be out of sorts!
As has become a recent tradition here on my site, I start with a little history lesson about the year of 1882, keeping pace with my blog post numbers. According to Wikipedia: “On, August 3 – The U.S. Congress passes the 1882 Immigration Act. August 5 – Standard Oil of New Jersey is established. September 4 – Thomas Edison starts the U.S.’s first commercial electrical power plant, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan.” Thomas Edison has become a frequent source of innovative ideas in this era, some developed in his winter home in nearby Ft. Myers, Florida. He would continue churning out patents for the next 48 years before his death in 1931.
I bought our tickets for the ferry (Key West Express) from Fort Myers to Key West, as we make plans for traveling there in first quarter of 2022. We need to earn a few more Marriott points before booking our lodging for a few nights. We’ll then use the Vacation Club to celebrate our 21st anniversary on Florida’s Singer Island. Marriott stays will also be part of our summer drive to Mackinac’s Grand Hotel, with overnight stops in Petoskey, Cleveland, Canton, and Hilton Head, with more yet to schedule. We’ll end the year at Marriott’s Kaui Lagoons – Kalanipu’u to celebrate an early Christmas.
We had a WISH-TV reunion yesterday with two other couples at the Streamsong Golf Resort in Central Florida. It’s a unique location on 16,000 acres, hiding decades of strip mining activity. Streamsong was developed by The Mosaic Company, “the world’s leading producer and marketer of phosphate-based crop nutrients…” There is some ecological controversy surrounding the company, but at least they’ve created a beautiful, world-class site for golfers featuring some of the top courses on the globe. We had lunch and enjoyed each other’s company, leaving our clubs behind.
We’ll update our landscaping plan with a Zoom call this afternoon before suffering through what will likely be a disappointing evening of IU basketball at Wisconsin. After 18 straight losses in Madison, it’s hard to be optimistic, even through this year’s team has proven to be improved. IU’s 13-point opening BIG victory over Nebraska was overshadowed by a Michigan rout of the same team last night 102-67. Other IU opponents, after close games with us, also experienced decisive losses to ranked teams. Syracuse lost by 14 to Villanova, while Kansas clubbed St. John’s 95-75. This is a strong indication that the team is far from Top 25 status and still simply of average BIG talent. We’ll know more tonight! Ugh!
Once again, a Thomas Edison invention, the phonograph, is the highlight of the year 1878, while in 1879 he first demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public. Also of interest, “milk was sold in bottles for the first time and infielder William White plays in one game for the Providence Grays and in conjecture becomes the first African American to play MLB.”
Race results have been compiled from yesterday’s Tomahawk 5k and I finished 143rd overall out of 400 participants. My time of 42:24 put me 6th in the M 70-74 division out of 8 finishers. One woman out of 14 of the same age group had a slightly better time than mine by 8 seconds to top her division. She was also two years older to give her even more credit. I ran this morning with the #2 finisher in the M 60-64 division to stretch my personal streak to 4,725 consecutive days. “Run…Forrest…Run.”
It’s “Football Sunday” with hopes of breaking my Fantasy team’s losing streak. Da Bears have experienced a similar streak of misfortune that will probably continue this afternoon against the winningest team in the NFL, the Arizona Cardinals. Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, and Cincinnati firmly cemented their spots in the College Football Playoffs last evening. The Portland Timbers are hosting the MLS Cup with a chance to claim their first title since 2015 but Oregon State fell short in their quest to make the College Soccer Cup. It will be Washington, who knocked off IU, Clemson, ND, and Georgetown. Three of the four matches went to penalty kicks to determine a winner, while only Washington scored more than one goal in a 2-0 victory over St. Louis, bidding for their record 11th National title.
IU Basketball ended their sad streak of 6 consecutive BIG losses dating back to February with a much needed win over Nebraska yesterday afternoon. They play Wisconsin on Wednesday in Madison where the Hoosiers face a streak of eighteen straight losses dating back to 1998 when the Kohl Center first opened. The Badgers are fresh off a Maui (Las Vegas) Invitational Championship and a 13-point victory over Marquette. Wisconsin’s only loss this season was a 2-point setback #12 Houston in the Maui opener for both teams. Since 2002, the Badgers are 28-6 over IU. Prior to that they were 49-90 all-time. It’s not likely that this horrible losing streak will end this season, especially considering Indiana’s performance against Syracuse in its only road game so far. The odds are heavily against us!
In the year 1874: “January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. February 21 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first newspaper. March 18 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.” No one knew at that time that they were effectively setting the stage for the baseball “Bronx Bombers.” “The nickname was originally coined in 1936 by Daniel Daniels who wrote for New York World-Telegram. The Yankees were originally known as the New York Highlanders before changing their name to the Yankees in 1913.”
“The Yankees began play in the 1901 season as the Baltimore Orioles (no relation to the modern Baltimore Orioles). In 1903, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise after it ceased operations and moved it to New York City, renaming the club the New York Highlanders. Arguably the most successful professional sports team in the United States, the Yankees have won 19 American League East Division titles, 40 American League pennants, and 27 World Series championships, all of which are MLB records.”
The team trains in Florida at Steinbrenner Field, a 31-acre complex centrally located in Tampa, serving as the spring home to the New York Yankees, and summer home to the Yankees class A-Advanced affiliate Tampa Tarpons. In 1973, the Steinbrenner family purchased the club for $8.7 million and continue to maintain ownership. We bought tickets to see them at Cool Today Stadium, our neighborhood ballpark that’s the Florida home of the Atlanta Braves. It’s just an hour-and-a-half drive for the Bronx Bombers and only a mile away for us, as they face-off against the newly crowned World Champion “Bravos.”
