Be a Realist

 Okay, so it's New Year's Eve morning.  Can you sense my enthusiasm?  The skies are overcast and will remain so for most of the day.  The temps will climb into the mid 40s (F).

I have friends who will stay up until midnight in order to watch the "ball" drop in New York City.  Not me.  I came to the realization a long time ago that there's a lot of hype in celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another.  Some like to think the New Year means their slate is wiped clean, that there's a new beginning.  Well, I hate to disappoint them, but that's not true.  They're going to wake up on January 1st with the same bills, the same work issues, and the same old, same old all around.  If you want to celebrate, then celebrate, but do it because you survived the last year... there millions who didn't.

My mom used to say I was cynical because I wasn't religious.  My response was always, "I'm not cynical, I'm a realist."  My advice to people?  Become more realistic.  If you want to be optimistic, be optimistic about the things you can change, not the things you expect will change simply because you want them to change.

And if you wake up with a hangover tomorrow morning, remember it was your choice to drink too much this evening.  In case you haven't realized it yet, there is a price to pay for everything, but sometimes the rewards are simply wonderful.

Realistically speaking, I'm thinking this is the year Trump goes to jail, and the Republican party get's crushed.  If that happens, then next year I'll tip a glass.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Holy Crap!  It's Monday.  This is my 5th day working.  I have one more before I get the day off and that's tomorrow.  Somehow I think I'm the only Specialist scheduled.  Makes sense.  Who in their right mind goes shopping for flooring on New Years Eve?  Oh, that's right, I forget, there are those morons who believe every holiday equates to a SALE.  Not this holiday.
I went downstairs this morning to find a little guest sitting in my kitchen sink.  You know, I had thought my buddy Mr. Snake had taken care of all the mousies around my house.  Well, he missed one.  This one was just teenie weenie.  Now, I don't mind if mousetraps do their job, but me?  I have a difficult time bonking the little suckers on the head.  Instead, I scooped him up in a pan set him free outside.  That right, I'm a sucker for fur.
There's an interesting article in Reuters about Religion in America... Or, maybe I should say Evangelicalism, which is a sect of Christianity.  Poll results show there are schisms forming mostly among generational lines.  The older, crazy Christians want to be much more politicized; the younger ones see them as failing.  The issues are those every Evangelical is supposed to hold dear to his heart:  immigration, no gun control, abortion, and LGBT rights.  That's right, the older ones are enamored of the late 1950's and 60's.  The younger ones see the religion as evolving and evidently less interested in Cherry Picking.  Not surprisingly, I've read that Billy Barr sees America on its way to hell... but then he's an old school Crazy White Christian.

And finally, in a little more than a day and a half we will be starting a new decade.  Some are going through a "what the hell" stage.  Not me.  I look forward to the future.  Whether you want to believe it or not, evolution happens.  Without it there is death.  Change is essential for continuity.  Life cannot exist for long in stasis.  And life here on earth will continue.  Those who dismay at change will die off.  This has been happening since the dawn of time, or the Big Bang... which ever came first.  The only thing we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.  This year will be very interesting as more of the old school dies off and more of the new school continues to exert itself.  Out with the Old, in the the New.