This And That

It is such an honor to be able to thank so many of my friends and loved ones for their service in the United States military, including my father, who was in the Army Reserves, my father-in-law, Jim, who served in the National Guard, and my Uncle Jack, who served in the Army during World War 2, and was in the Battle of the Bulge.  He is in his 90s, and living in Florida, and doing well despite many aches and pains.  Thank you to all of our service men and women.  You have my gratitude.

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I was very excited over the weekend to do a search on my Tivo and find that my Pittsburgh Steelers were mentioned in the description of an "NFL Football" program on Sunday afternoon.  For a few short seconds, I actually thought that meant their game was on versus the Jets.  Then I got the bad news.  They were mentioned only as part of the description of the Baltimore Ravens game.  The description stated that the Ravens were trying to rebound from their loss to the Steelers the previous week.  I was really disappointed.  I thought CBS was surprising me.  Instead, I realized, after looking at the schedule the rest of the season, I'll only get to see two more Steelers games all season, due to the Ravens games generally being on at the same time.  That's one of the few negatives of living in this area, though I realize I'm in the minority.

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Speaking of my Tivo, one of my Hollywood crushes from back in the day is Meg Ryan, and I have her listed as one of my Wishlist searches.  I realized, after looking at a list of her movies, there are only a few where I actually like her character.  The rest are her acting completely different than the typical "girl-next-door" type that she is known for.  My favorite movies with her are, of course, JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, and IQ, to name a few.  Many of the rest of her movies she plays women who aren't as likable, in my opinion, particularly her earlier roles.  JOE VERSUS... contains the quote that my blog is named for.  Joe and Patricia are on a raft out in the middle of the South Pacific, just after the island they were on sinks into the ocean from the eruption of a volcano, and Patricia (Meg Ryan) asks, "I wonder where we'll end up?"  Joe (Tom Hanks) responds, "Away from the things of man, my love.  Away from the things of man..."  It's a great last line for a movie.  If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching.  I mean it.

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I spent most of the day working around the house, and I wore my favorite pants, a pair of black scrubs with a gold Pittsburgh Pirate "P" on them.  They are sooooo comfortable!  The only issue I have is that the waist isn't elastic, but has a drawstring.  The drawstring is absolutely necessary given how loose the pants fit.  So that's all well and good except when I need to use the bathroom, and I'm in a hurry, and in the process of untying them, I inevitably get a knot stuck and can't get them off.  I have to use my inner Force to calm myself, quickly work the knot loose, and then allow nature to take its course.  I have had no accidents, but I have certainly not enjoyed these moments.

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Congrats to the two area Major League Baseball managers for their Manager-of-the-Year awards, Matt Williams for the Washington Nationals in the National League, and Buck Showalter for the Baltimore Orioles in the American League.  Both were well deserved.

I miss baseball season.  There's just 100 days until Pitchers and Catchers report for Spring Training!

Have a great evening, everyone!