John Madden was one of those people who you thought would be a part of the football landscape forever. What was football like before Madden? Did it even exist? What will it be like now that he's gone?
He wasn't just an announcer. He was also a huge fan of the game. He never had to fake his interest the way some younger sports journos do. For them, it's just a job. For Madden, football was his life.
R.I.P., sir. You're already missed.
I had my fourth consecutive day of headaches today. That usually doesn't happen. I'm feeling good right now, though, so hopefully tomorrow will be a good day.
I haven't watched any of my Christmas movies yet. I need to do that soon. Only a week left. It's not Christmas until Hans falls off the Nakatomi building.
The supply chain issues are bewildering to me. Not the fact that they're happening--I predicted that as soon as the first lockdowns were announced--but rather the timing of them. I thought this stuff would have manifested much sooner.
I've learned that different kinds of wood react differently to my efforts to plane them. Pine works well. Whitewood, not so much. If I try planing whitewood, then I inevitably end up with gouges wherever knots appear. The wood near the knot simply prefers to break away rather than be cut. I suppose this is why furniture and stuff is usually made from trees like walnut and cherry.
It's been just over thirty years since the historic rock concert in Moscow just a month after the August Coup. And that was just a few months after the Gulf War concluded. It's kind of crazy thinking back to that time. I'd go back in a heartbeat, though. Technological advances notwithstanding, everything was better back then.
This will probably be my last blog post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas, everyone! :)
...and I'll be glad when it's over. Can I get 2019 back? Pretty please?
The good news is that I've stayed ahead of my seasonal chores to a lot better degree than usual. Christmas shopping, leaf removal, and so on. I'm pleased with my accomplishments in that regard.
The bad news is that I haven't written much at all. I really need to give myself a good kick in the pants about this.
The other good news is that some of my health issues have resolved over the last few months.
The other bad news is that I've fallen out of the exercise habit yet again.
The other other good news is that I don't think global hostilities will break out until after the February Olympics, so we've got a couple of months of peace, or so I'm betting.
The other other bad news is that I fully expect a major war to break out some time next year, probably in late summer, but possibly earlier.
So there we are.
In any event, I hope you all are doing well and living satisfying lives, and I hope you have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever season. Make sure to get together with family and/or friends at some point, because that's the sort of thing that can keep you sane in a world that is doing its best to drive you batty.
And read a book at some point. Preferably one of mine. ;)
