Don't Be A Hater

The word hate is one that I throw around a little too often I believe. We use it to say that we dislike something, or, worse, someone. Tonight I saw something that I absolutely and completely hate, ignorant people. These guys were nice enough I guess, but when they sat down I realized that I would have a problem. You see, one of the guys had a Nazi t-shirt on, which in and of itself may not be worse than any other piece of clothing someone could wear. It’s the symbolism and the baggage that it carries with it that I hate. This isn’t the first time I have seen this guy in my Applebee’s, I’ve seen him once or twice before, and every other time I’ve seen him he’s worn something similar, a shirt with some form of a swastika on it.
I say all that to say that people are terrible. It’s ridiculous to assume yourself better than someone else based solely on the color of one’s skin. In my humble opinion, the fact that someone is one color or another carries no significance. A person is a person and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of the language they speak, or where they live, or how much money they have, or their sexuality. I don’t want to say it hurts my feelings seeing people that wear their hatred on a t-shirt, but it really does. One of my best friends for the last 13 years is Columbian. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met are Mexican, or Honduran, or Zambian, or from Zimbabwe. And yet this kind of person can wear their hatred of anyone who isn’t the same as they are as a t-shirt in public. I realize that as an American, I have the right to free speech, and this person has the exact same right, but should ignorant people be allowed to express such demeaning ideals in the form of a t-shirt? I don’t think so.

Do I really hate what I say I do? I really do hate peas, and I really do hate mushrooms, and I really do hate ignorant people who think the color of their skin entitles them to anything.

That’s my two cents, take it for what it’s worth ©

Gone to Cincinnati

If you know me at all, then you know that I love the Angels more than any other sports team. For my birthday this year, Kristi, my gorgeous wife, took me to Cincinnati to see the Angels play the Reds. Let me just say that it was an amazing trip, exactly how I would have planned it. First of all, our trip to Cincinnati was smooth in our new car, which we absolutely love. It got amazing mileage, somewhere in the range of 35 mpg, and it was extremely comfortable, and handles well at 70 mph (yeah right, we did 80 most of the way). When we got to Cincinnati, I was blown away but what a cool city it is. The Ohio River separates Kentucky and Ohio, and Cincinnati is just across the river. There are a number of really cool bridges to cross the Ohio River, like this one.

We got to our hotel very quickly once we got into the city. It was a decent hotel, especially considering I only paid $50 for it. We took the opportunity we had to go to the pool and Kristi got a chance to lay out, and I went for a dip. It was a very relaxing afternoon. Before we left for the game, we talked to the concierge and he told us that the stadium was close enough to walk to. It was only 5 blocks from our hotel. It was a nice walk as well. Cincinnati reminded me of Chicago, only smaller, but very cool none the less. So we walked down the street towards the Ohio, and the first thing we came to was Paul Brown Stadium, where the Bengals play. This isn’t a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the stadium, it was very cool. Between Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ballpark (where the Reds play) sits the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which was a very modern looking building, one I’d like to check out if I ever go back to Cincinnati. Once you pass the Freedom Center, you get to Great American Ballpark, a really awesome stadium. We sat in the cheap seats on Wednesday Night and had really good mezzanine seats on Thursday. Both games were hot; who knew you could sweat that much just by sitting there…I can, we all know that.

Now, down the most important part of the trip: The Games. Of course the good guys won both that we went to. Big John Lackey pitched the first game and got the win, his 10^th, and he was the first in the majors this year to do so, hopefully he’ll pitch in the All Star game in a few weeks. He no hit the Reds for the first four innings, all in all he had a very strong outing. The Angels won 5-3. Shields pitched a strong 7^th and 8^th, and Frankie Rodriguez got his 20^th save in the 9^th. As usual, Vlad Guerrero tore it up with 4 RBI’s in the game. He’s amazing, yet very painful to watch. Everything he does seems pained, yet he absolutely destroys balls.

Before the start of the second game, the Army Golden Knights Parachute Squad dropped in in honor of Flag Day. It was very cool to watch these service men parachute with total accuracy into the stadium. The second game featured Kristi’s new favorite player, Bartolo “Fatboy” Colon. He threw very well, despite giving up 5 runs. It was quite comical watching him “hit” if you can even call that hitting. He ended up getting the win thanks to a little help from his friends, and a six run seventh inning. Reggie Willits, Eric Aybar and O.C. (Orlando Cabrera) all walked in the inning to get things going. Casey Kotchman and Vladdie each had RBI’s in the inning. Vladdie’s RBI’s put the Angels ahead for good. Shields and Frankie again closed out just another Halo Victory. It was an amazing trip, and I’d love to go back to Cincinnati sometime soon. Here’s a few more pics of the trip:
Stadium inside

Riverboat on the Ohio

The View from the Cheap seats

If you’ve known me for a while, then you know that I can’t keep a vehicle. The longest I’ve owned a vehicle for has been four years, my second truck, Betty Ford. I wrecked my first two cars, as often happens to sixteen year old kids. My first car was a 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was a fun car to drive; it got great gas mileage and, unfortunately for me, was extremely fast. It looked a like this.

My next two vehicles were identical, 1993 Ford Rangers. The biggest difference was that one was a stick and the other an automatic. I drove the latter for four years, from my senior year of high school to my junior year @ Hope. The car that replaced it was my dad’s 1992 Toyota Camry. From there, I felt like I really wanted an SUV, I guess I got inspired riding in my wife’s Rodeo, so I thought hey, it’d be fun to have a Jeep. So I sold the Camry at the end of my senior year and bought myself a sweet black Jeep Grand Cherokee. And it was, until about last November/December, when we realized that we had to put $1400 transmission in it, and, more recently, it needed brakes. Can we say money pit? Which all leads us to the occasion for this blog.

Kristi and I recently made our biggest purchase as a couple. We bought a 2006 Suzuki Forenza, which probably leaves you wondering, “Suzuki Forenza, what the heck? Don’t they make motorcycles and dirt bikes?” Well, they make SUVs and more recently they’ve started making cars. It’s a compact car that gets great mileage, I’ve put it at about 26 just in the city and the sticker said 32 on the highway, which dwarfs the 14/16 the Jeep ever got. I wish that I hadn’t gotten rid of the Camry, but hey, hindsight’s 20-20. The Suzuki Forenza is a great looking car, with an amazing warranty and it cost $9400, about $600o less than a year old Civic or Corolla. So we’re very happy with it thus far, and we’ll keep you posted. ©
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