Man it was just going to happen

No matter what RB says I pride myself on being a conscientious driver. Yes I may be a little aggressive, and yes I may tend to push the edge of the speed limits. However I always pay attention and do my best to keep out of bad situations. But sometimes I think luck is just working against you sometimes. Yesterday was one of those times for me. It seemed like every driver on the road was trying to hit me and ever pedestrian was trying to get me to run them over. When we went to lunch two people in two different parts of town stepped out in front of my rental from behind trucks. I had actually been drive very conservatively so there wasn’t even a panic to avoid them. But I wasn’t so lucky later on with another car.

I went a slightly different way to the hotel after work. Instead of taking the freeway I took surface roads I knew would take me by a small grocery store. I wanted to grab a lean cuisine meal or something similar for a light dinner. I was toying with the idea of running back to the hotel, working out, then going to a launch party Harley-Davidson was having for one of their new bikes. I had traveled this route several times before and didn’t think much about going this way. There was a lot more traffic than usual and everyone was driving a little aggressively. So after I stopped at the store I got back into the rental and started back to the hotel.

At the next intersection the bad luck that had been circling all day struck. I was in the middle of an intersection, with my blinker on, waiting to make a left hand turn. The light turned yellow I waited for all the cars to go through the intersection and when it was clear I started turning left. That is when another car that had been quite a ways off a second ago, came around the bend, down the hill in front of me, and ran the now red light striking my rental car. They must have sped up to try and make the light while it was turning or just after and not noticed I was turning. I had almost been through the intersection when they hit me so I assume they came pretty fast and noticed I was there at the last second. Luckily of course no one was hurt. The impact wasn’t that bad as none of the airbags in either car went off.

For the next hour we talked to the police, exchanged information, and dealt with the unfortunate situation. The other driver was much more shook up than I was and was shaking even an hour later. At first I thought my luck was worse than it turned out to be because the police office was going to give us both tickets. But a woman that had been perpendicular to the original direction I was traveling had witness the entire event and stayed behind to talk to the police. She told the police it was clear when I turned and the light was defiantly red when the other car hit. This saved my hide because I ended up not being sited for anything. This in the long run should as mean the accident is ruled primarily caused by the other driver and I shouldn’t be affected by it. Besides having to deal with the Rental car company, her insurance agent, and my insure company of course. Plus I may need to file a report with the state.

Thank god no one was hurt, and I am glad this should just be a story to tell but have no real affect on me from here on out.

Mike Tice in the Security line

Not that is a huge deal but I had a small brush with fame the other week while waiting in line for security at the airport. I was using the skyway security line (perfect if you are using the A, B, or G concourses because the walk ways put your right there. It is also nice because really only Airline personnel and business travelers know about it so the line is relatively short and moves pretty fast. I like to use it during the holidays or when the airport is really busy. The other nice thing is that people who use this line are mostly traveling for business so it is nice and quite and no one is freaking out about things. However it is a hassle to get to. You have to go to the basement and take a tram to edge of the parking ramp, then you take 2 escalators and you are there. But again some days taking the time to get there more than makes up for how long you would wait at the main lines.

Anyway I was waiting in line like all of the other robotized business travelers with my black roller board suit case, laptop bag, and slip on shoes when I noticed a large (as in tall and brawny) man walking to get into the security line. He looked very familiar. This guy looked big enough to be a tight end for a NFL team in fact. That is because he had been a tight end for the Vikings in the early nineties. This guy later became the head coach of the team in 2001 after the release of Denny Green. Of course if you read the title of the blog you know I am talking about Mike Tice. His career as a head coach, was to put it lightly, not stellar. If fact he has since left organization to take a lower position as assistant coach of Jacksonville. But it is always cool to see someone that is semi-famous in real life.

It was funny though as no-one spoke to him, asked for his autograph, or acknowledged who he was, at least for the most part. I don’t know if this is because of how bad of a coach he was or because everyone was trying to mind their own business. However there was a teenager in line who, when he noticed Mr. Tice, pretty much yelled out “that’s Mike Tice the old Vikings coach”. This kid had a somewhat awestruck look on his face that was answered by the people in front and in back of him with a simple smile and head nod. So I wasn’t the only one who recognized him. Nor was I the only one who was minding his own business. This brush of fame is as crazy as my little brother tripping Michael Jackson at an amusement park in the 80s or my day Piloting a flight with Audrey the Giant, meeting the president, or knowing Chuck Yeager, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway.

100 Posts

Well I have reached a small milestone. The post before this one is my one-hundredth blog posting. Surprising, I have made the attempt to write at least once a week. Though in all honesty I tend to write 3-4 posts at a time then upload them pre or post dated! But hey it still averages out to once a week! So now I have posted a hundred times, in well under a hundred weeks though. So my average is better than once a week. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but the few people who actually read this stuff always ask when I will post more… So I guess I will have to keep it up, especially since family members have recently spread out across the country. Ok I just thought it was interesting that I have written so many posts.

How can they copyright part of you life?

So one of the interesting things about planning a wedding is all the different way people try to fleece you. If you do a quick Google search you will find that the average cost of a wedding is anywhere from $20-30k. Everywhere you look there is something else to spend money on. In fact the wedding industry – I find it amusing that it is even considered an industry – now represents multiple billions of dollars per year. Whether you are having a big church wedding or a theme wedding there are plenty of places to cater to you. I fully expected some of the items to have high costs, the ceremony and reception site of course, the rings, and the catering. But beyond these you still need to purchase invites, a cake, a dress, garter belts, rent a tux, you need to hire someone to perform the ceremony, hire a DJ, and hire a photographer. What amazes me is that most of the people think nothing of charging $1000 to start. In fact, talking to many of my friends they hired people that cost 6 times what I expect to pay for some of these roles.

What really amazes me about these costs though is how matter of factly these people will tack on fees like it’s expected. ‘Oh yeah, well if you actually want me to play music it will cost more’ or ‘well if you want me to stay the whole night that will be an additional cost’. But the one part of this that really has struck a cord with me is how much the photography costs. Most photographers won’t even show up for less then $500 then there is an additional charge for more than 2 hours of work, and then you still have to buy the photos. Most start there wedding packages at $1200 bucks and the price goes up from there. I understand the idea of paying someone to dedicate their time to just taking photos. I also understand that professionals have high overhead just in the equipment that they keep. But for the most part I do not see anything that special in the actual photos that they take. Most are pretty standard that anyone with a good eye can take.

Yes, some of the benefit with hiring a professional is they will typically color balance and adjust the photos after the fact. They will also help you pick the best proofs and can provide scrap books and other extras – of course all of this is for an additional fee! Where I feel they pull a dirty trick however, is the fact that you do not own the photos at the end of the day. You paid them to shoot your wedding and prepare the photos but they retain the copyright. You are the subject matter but they own the results. Therefore you have to go through them for all of the prints. And of course you guessed it – those are at additional cost and at a premium. One photographer that we visited with fully admitted that he didn’t process, print, or physically create any of the final products. He did them on-line and sent out for them. The software he used is widely available and honestly does half the work. So why then do we need to pay the man $400 to show up $300 to stay for most of the event and then we can only have the photos if we continue to shell out.

Now this was one of the cheaper photographers, many of those I found easily cost four times this much. When you are only looking to get 3-4 really good shoots this seems a little excessive. I know this is a day you treasure your whole life but that certainly doesn’t mean you have to throw money out the window. We are going to play it a little riskier. We have hired a college student whose artist photography we admire. We pay her hourly and pay for her to rent the equipment needed. After that she will give the photos on CD or DVD and we can take them to Pro-ex ourselves to be printed. As long as she gets a couple of shoots that we can make 8 x 10s for the family we should be happy. And on top of it we get the copyrights to our own lives upfront!

Brackets: The Gateway Bet

So I was watching the local news in Milwaukee the other night and found out I may have a problem. I may have a BIG problem. In fact it’s a problem most people don’t even realize they may have. I may be addicted to gambling. At least according to this station’s investigative reporting I may be far along the path to becoming a man with a gambling problem. I didn’t even realize. The problem you see is very similar to that of drug addiction. You can start off with a seemingly harmless activity and it can lead to a more serious activity and beyond. An example of this can be seen in the well know fact that the government publishes, that is if you smoke a joint you will almost instantly become a crack, crank, or meth-head. Just because it isn’t very addicting and does very little damage the very act somehow commits you to doing harder and harder drugs. At least that what the government says even when their own panel doesn’t agree with that statement,

Luckily I never did do marijuana. But I am still in grave danger. You see I have from year to year placed a few “friendly” bets on the brackets. That right! I’ll admit it. Sometimes I partake in a little bit of the March Madness. Until the other night I didn’t realize the dire consequences of my actions. This very import Investigative report on the local news alerted me to the dangers I and many of my friends are in. It had Expert witnesses that proved to the viewer that playing the brackets WILL lead to a gambling problem. It will start out simply. A $5 bet here or there but soon I should expect to be finding my self in big problems owing loan sharks and charlatans my life. Owe if only I new sooner. According to the broadcast the rush I will get from betting on the game will diminish and I will need a larger and larger fix as time goes on. It is very common for people with my condition to find themselves inexplicitly drawn to casinos and poker games. Soon no bet will be enough. I can expect to lose friend, my job, my family - all because I like to fill out a couple of brackets a year. Again, just like doing drugs, even betting once can trigger addictive behavior.

I don’t know how I made it so long. I should probably seek out health. A couple of years I bet on the Vikings and for the past few years I have filled out brackets. After watching that very informative report, I will have to check out my own activities. Make sure I haven’t been sneaking away from work to bet or hiding money from myself to bet. I will have to run out and tell all my friends what danger they are in! Maybe I will have to check myself into a 12 step program. Maybe I should…..

What a bunch of BS. I have heard of slow news nights, but come on. What is this about playing the brackets ruining people’s lives? I think the “investigators” took a large leap to come to this conclusion. Most people I know spend $10-$20 a year doing brackets or fantasy Football. Not a single one of them has problems with loan sharks. Sometimes you wonder what the managing producer was thinking approving such a nonsensical story. I bet the camera man, the reporter, the producer, and the guy who cleans the floor at that station have pool going on. Oh well I guess I at least got a good laugh out of the idea.