This is my reminder column to not emotionally invest in sports. I fell for the trap, again, and it crushed me on Saturday. I had slowly begun to believe Mizzou football was different and then they cruised down to Texas A&M and got crushed. This should not happen to a man of my chronological age. I knew better than to ignore decades of evidence, but there I was, planning my weekend around a game of college kids, of whom many make more than your average Longshoreman. I’m going to do better going forward.
Similarly, I almost wrote about Presidential politics this week. My common sense quickly labeled that as a stupid idea. Unless you live in one of about seven counties in four states, it just doesn’t matter at this point. Everyone is dug in, and the only suspense is in those locations. Waste of words to advocate anywhere else.
Speaking of money, I spent so much money on the 2014-2015 Royals World Series run that it has certainly curtailed my spending enthusiasm for 2024. I like to think I’m more mature, but I think I’m just old and can’t spend money with abandon like I could when I was young (er). It’s really a sad part of aging that no one tells you about. In 2014-15, I bought tickets, TVs, and everything else necessary to fully take in the return to glory of the Royals. That’s not happening this year.
Foley published a press release last week about the Platte County Courthouse improvements that are going to be completed with our grandchildren’s COVID money. As a former government employee, I appreciate a good press release. My favorite line was a quote of the “collective” county commission that read “implement critical improvements.”
That it is just plain old government press release porn. The press release doesn’t really say what is so “critical” other than intimating that the courtrooms are going to be bigger, which I can only assume is “critical,” as I do not attend court unless required by law.
Anyway, COVID that required courthouses to basically be closed is now the financing source for spending government funds for expanded in-person viewing.
Make it all make sense.
The press release also pointed out that the original courthouse was for a smaller, rural county, but had been maintained, expanded, and improved all of this time, kind of a governmental “humble brag.” You can’t really appreciate and respect government until they put out press like this for the masses.
Speaking of presidential politics. Who exactly remains “undecided” in this thing? That seems impossible. Right? What more could you want to know about either candidate? Is there some subset of people out there that are procrastinating their decision? Just waiting till the weekend before to do a bunch of homework. Gonna “drill down” on the candidates’ shortcomings? Seems like a lot of work to be done in a weekend.
Are they waiting for that one ad that pushes them over the proverbial cliff? I’d probably liken the “undecided” crowd to suicide jumpers that can’t decide to jump from a bridge or a building, neither seems like a great outcome.
(Guy Speckman can be reached removing
his 2024 Mizzou Football tattoo)
