Rest In Peace
Archives for September, 2008
NASCAR AND ME
I started out watching NASCAR as a young child. It was at my grandma’s house back in the days before cable. We had to make do with rabbit ears and her little black and white TV. There were only two channels to choose from so it was NASCAR or some local mobile home salesman with his own country music show. You all know the guy I’m talking about. He is the one who starts every song with “It goes a little something like this” and proceeds to sing it nothing like it actually goes. I thought there was nothing like Richard Petty. I still do by the way. As I got older and started Junior High, then High School my interest began to fade. Even though I hardly ever watched a race I still perked up when I heard something about “The King”. Years later I found myself wishing he would retire before something happened to him. I hurt for him the day Adam died.
Four years ago I started a new job working for a young dentist who loves NASCAR. He is always talking about it and Jeff Burton. He even closes the office for a few days every spring so he can go to Talladega with his buddies. It didn’t take long for me to start paying attention. Every now and then he would tell something about one of the Busch brothers. He said they were the most hated drivers in NASCAR. Well, if you know me you know that was all it took. I am the world’s biggest supporter of all the world’s biggest underdogs. I started asking questions and the more he told the more interested I was in these Busches. It seemed to me the worst offense committed by Kyle was being born Kurt’s younger brother.
So, here we go again. It was Daytona in February. I was at home alone and sat down to watch the race. I was hooked once again. I can’t remember when, but at some point I found out the little Busch drove the M&M car. My family and M&M’s have a long history which is enough for another blog. Kyle also drove like a winner. He wanted to win. He wasn’t afraid and he drove hard. I also saw something in Kyle that some but not many other people see. I saw a kid, a kid who loved to race. He was having fun. When all the hate started, Kyle did what a lot of people do. He put up a shield that screamed, “You can’t hurt me.” I may be wrong, but I still believe the so called arrogance is a cover up, a way to hide how much it hurts. He is only twenty-three years old and he is human. It has to hurt.
The more hate that was thrown at Kyle, the more I pulled for him. It also seemed that the more I supported him the more other people hated him. I had started visiting NASCAR.com and was enjoying it, but after awhile it wasn’t fun anymore. It seemed that no matter what happened in the race, Kyle was blamed. No matter what the argument or discussion, it turned into a bash Kyle party. If someone stood up for Kyle they were labeled a hater. If they voiced support for Kyle they were accused of jumping on the bandwagon. People were wishing that he would crash into the wall and die. So called fans couldn’t be happy when their own driver had a good day, they used his good fortune to cheer that Kyle had a bad day. Kyle received votes for “Whiner of the Week” when he didn’t even give an interview. Even that fun little crew was tainted.
Kyle’s fans are accused of not being true NASCAR fans. Well, I am a true NASCAR fan. The last two weekends I have watched my favorite driver fall from first place to twelfth by no fault of his own. I watched an extremely talented young man have a dream shattered in front of millions of people, some of whom were happier than if their own driver had won the cup. As disappointed as I was and as much as I hurt for Kyle, I cheered on Greg Biffle. I enjoyed seeing him celebrate. I was disappointed that Tony Stewart and a few others didn’t do better. I enjoyed watching a good race, even though Kyle was in the garage.
I have decided to take a step back and point my energy elsewhere. I will still check in at NASAR.com, but probably won’t participate much. I don’t want to spend my spare time fighting with people I don’t even know, people who can’t find a place in their heart to feel bad when someone is hurting. Mostly, I don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of NASCAR.
Democrats on Sarah Palin
John McCain announced last week that Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska would be his running mate. We don’t know much about the Governor, but she made a very good first impression last night at the Republican convention. I am very excited about her being on the ticket. I have never been much of a feminist, at least not one to go out and protest or anything like that, but the democrats have got me riled up about Sarah Palin.
I didn’t care that they said she wasn’t qualified. That’s what politicians say about their opponents in a campaign. Just for the record, being a mayor and a governor makes her more qualified than Barack Obama being a “community organizer”. Yes, he was a state senator, where he didn’t do much of anything. And he is currently a U.S. Senator, where he has spent his entire term running for President. That is all politics. But they started out saying she should not run for Vice President because she should stay home and take care of her five children. What? Should Barack Obama stay home with his two small children? Should Joe Biden as a single parent have stayed home with his children? Should any of the thousands of men who have held public office stayed home with their children? Were they bad fathers for running for office? The truth of the matter is that a woman is more capable of pulling this off than any man. Women have been mastering the art of multi-tasking since the Garden of Eden. Men can only do one thing at a time. Men are not capable of preparing a meal, feeding a baby, helping with homework, answering a thousand questions, talking on the phone and dealing with a helpless spouse all at the same time. That is why they go to work.
The Democrats also attacked her for being “small town”. What is wrong with that? How many of you are from a small town? She is doing things the way most of us are. She is working her way up. Chances are she will understand the problems and needs of the people still living in a small town. She will understand what we face day in and day out. Barack Obama learned about politics from the Chicago Political Machine. Yeah, that’s a lot better.
Another attack was aimed at her husband Todd. Twenty two years ago, while in his early twenties, he was charged with a DUI. Now, I am not advocating driving and drinking, but this was when he was very young and a long time ago. Back then awareness was not as prominent as it is today. That doesn’t make it right, but is it something that should ruin his entire life and the life of his wife? There are two other points I want to make on this. The first is her husband was charged, not Governor Palin. The second: in his twenties Barack Obama was experimenting with drugs. Would you be relieved that your children are doing drugs over drinking beer?
The lowest the Democrats have ever gone was criticizing Governor Palin’s seventeen year old daughter and putting her in the spotlight because she is pregnant. This is something that has been happening since the beginning of time and will continue to happen to the end of time. How many families do you know have faced the same situation? Thousands upon thousands of teenagers have put this cart before the horse. Does this make them bad people? NO. Does it mean their parents should turn their backs on them? NO. Should their parents not accept their own grandchild? NO. Should Sarah Palin be unacceptable for Vice President because of it? NO. We are talking about human beings. They made a mistake, like all of us have. The Palin’s love their daughter and like good parents should do they are standing with her. They are looking forward to a beautiful, innocent grandchild. They recognize that their daughter and her boyfriend are facing some difficult times. They have chosen to not make things harder for them. Would you want your children’s and grandchildren’s future in the hands of someone who would do things different?
The democrats should focus on her qualifications. They should not make her family and her sex an issue.
And Then Came The Rain
Central Louisiana was awaken in the wee hours of the morning to storms. There was thunder, lightening and rain, lots of rain. We got 10 inches in just a few hours. Over 90% of the parish has been without electricity since Monday, now their houses and streets are full of water. The pumps were damaged during the hurricane, so there is also a shortage of usable water. The mayor has ordered that all non essential businesses close until further notice. We have been under tornado warnings all day.
The news is on now showing video. It is unbelievable. The entire parish and several surrounding parishes are flooded. The are showing livestock that have drowned trying to swim to land. People are wading through the water trying to get out. The shelters are full with evacuees from the southern part of the state. Now all the churches are full. The interstate is also full with people trying to return home, even though they were told not too. There is a chance that they will get there and have to turn around and come back because of Ike. To add insult to injury, Louisiana is also the mosquito capitol of the world.
They also just reported that there is nothing about it on the national news. CNN just requested video from the local station.
On a personal note, we never lost electricity. We lost cable for a few hours, but we got it back quickly. Water did not get in our house. It came close to my brother’s but did not come in. He still does not have electricity. My nephew has been without electricity also. His girlfriend and her roommate stayed at his apartment because they were afraid to be alone during the hurricane. He was able to move his and his girlfriends car to higher ground, but was unable to move her friends car.
And it’s not over yet. The sky is black and it’s starting to rain again.
After Gustav
Yesterday was not the best of days. A hurricane can ruin just about anything. The morning started out cloudy, then turned to rain. Then came the wind. I can’t tell you exactly how long it lasted, but it started about mid afternoon and I didn’t relax until around 9:30 last night. It blew and blew. It howled. It whistled. Even the grass was leaning. Fortunately we never lost power. Later in the night we did lose the cable, but believe it or not we still have a television with rabbit ears.
According the weather service Gustav was not as bad as Katrina. Well at my house Gustav was worse. I don’t know if it was the path it took or what, but it was worse. It seems there is more damage here also. I am very grateful that we didn’t have any. We lost a couple of small trees but they didn’t hit anything. But we do have a huge mess to clean up. We couldn’t start today because it is still too wet and still raining. So, I keep looking out the window at those trees wondering how in the world I am going to get it all out of the yard. There is no way I’m going to use a chain saw even if I had one.
Oh well, as Scarlett would say, Tomorrow is another day.
