Welcome back, where I certainly wish I was at the picture above rather than this horrific Summer Fire season. The past week we have been socked in with smoke, and just today the wind blew some of it out.
When I see this picture, I think of Late Summer, and the impending arrival of Autumn. Now I already know that here it will be a challenge and a half considering the heat, but my thoughts turn to Autumn.
So what's on the mind? Well...
MLB. I just watch highlights from the Chicago Cubs game yesterday (Saturday) at Wrigley Field. Now, I've watched Baseball on and off for almost 50 years, and not once have I ever seen the outfield bleachers empty at Wrigley. That is like hell freezing over.
Tonight Cleveland and Anaheim are playing a game in Williamsport, and I couldn't love it more. This is what MLB needs to be doing.
NFL. Little by little I've watched some Preseason. Smartly, most teams are not playing their starters/stars during this three week fest. Use the three games as a screener for your borderline players to see who you wand to keep.
Kids Soccer. If you are ever looking at something that will put a smile on your face, go out and watch Under Six years old Soccer on a Saturday Morning, especially if it is week one. To watch these kids try something that is different and unusual to them was funny. To watch the scrum of all the kids trying to kick a single ball was funny. To watch the kids lose focus and be kids (cartwheeling in the middle of the game, and taking dives after a goal is scored) is absolutely funny.
Twitter. I gave them yet another chance. I wanted to see what would happen, and here's the deal - the people that were recommended to me to follow were either Democrats or more specifically Trump Haters who were forecasting prison for the guy. So when I hear people bashing Twitter, yeah, they suck.
Afghanistan. I'm gonna make this about as simple as I can - I had grave concerns about military leadership going back 20 years to about the time I was retiring. Now after seeing the events of the past week, I know why.
I wish I could be eloquent about this, recruiting will be harder than its been in a long, LONG time. For those serving on recruiting duty right now, I feel for you. Career Counselors are going to feel the pressure too. Can you imagine trying to approach a veteran at the end of an enlistment, say four to eight years in and trying to sell them on sticking around? If I was at that mid-level right now with people screaming for jobs on the outside, I'd leave in a heartbeat.
My thoughts also are with the Vietnam Veterans who have to be shaking their head seeing this...AGAIN. IAVA veterans can not be faulted for being frustrated with this. Can you imagine any veteran right now feeling compelled to recommend the military as an option right now?
To my brother and sister veterans who served in the IAVA era, we are here for you.
As for military leadership... and leadership in general...uh, never mind. But those World War II era uniforms look sharp (tongue firmly implanted in cheek)...
Final Thought. Hey look, we have a butt ton of shit going on within this spinning chunk of rock. But what I tried to bring to the table is a combination of bad and good. But as I'm prone to do, let's end it on something cool, and what could be cooler in Summer than Mount Rainier?
Take care of yourselves, and each other.
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