Stolen Content - We have a winner

If anyone was really wondering just what the next post would be, well that question is significantly answered here, it is a stolen content piece that I happened to read before bed.

Enough right-wing propaganda

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Monday, July 26, 2010; A13

The smearing of Shirley Sherrod ought to be a turning point in American politics. This is not, as the now-trivialized phrase has it, a "teachable moment." It is a time for action.

The mainstream media and the Obama administration must stop cowering before a right wing that has persistently forced its propaganda to be accepted as news by convincing traditional journalists that "fairness" requires treating extremist rants as "one side of the story." And there can be no more shilly-shallying about the fact that racial backlash politics is becoming an important component of the campaign against President Obama and against progressives in this year's election.

The administration's response to the doctored video pushed by right-wing hit man Andrew Breitbart was shameful. The obsession with "protecting" the president turned out to be the least protective approach of all.

The Obama team did not question, let alone challenge, the video. Instead, it assumed that whatever narrative Fox News might create mattered more than anything else, including the possible innocence of a human being outside the president's inner circle.

Obama complained on ABC's "Good Morning America" that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "jumped the gun, partly because we now live in this media culture where something goes up on YouTube or a blog and everybody scrambles." But it's his own apparatus that turned "this media culture" into a false god.

Yet the Obama team was reacting to a reality: the bludgeoning of mainstream journalism into looking timorously over its right shoulder and believing that "balance" demands taking seriously whatever sludge the far right is pumping into the political waters.

This goes way back. Al Gore never actually said he "invented the Internet," but you could be forgiven for not knowing this because the mainstream media kept reporting he had.

There were no "death panels" in the Democratic health-care bills. But this false charge got so much coverage that an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll last August found that 45 percent of Americans thought the reform proposals would likely allow "the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care to the elderly." That was the summer when support for reform was dropping precipitously. A straight-out lie influenced the course of one of our most important debates.

The traditional media are so petrified of being called "liberal" that they are prepared to allow the Breitbarts of the world to become their assignment editors. Mainstream journalists regularly criticize themselves for not jumping fast enough or high enough when the Fox crowd demands coverage of one of their attack lines.

Thus did Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander ask this month why the paper had been slow to report on "the Justice Department's decision to scale down a voter-intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party." Never mind that this is a story about a tiny group of crackpots who stopped no one from voting. It was aimed at doing what the doctored video Breitbart posted set out to do: convince Americans that the Obama administration favors blacks over whites.

And never mind that, to her great credit, Abigail Thernstrom, a conservative George W. Bush appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, dismissed the case and those pushing it. "This doesn't have to do with the Black Panthers," she told Politico's Ben Smith. "This has to do with their fantasies about how they could use this issue to topple the [Obama] administration." Instead, the media are supposed to take seriously the charges of J. Christian Adams, who served in the Bush Justice Department. He's a Republican activist going back to the Bill Clinton era. His party services included time as a Bush poll watcher in Florida in 2004, when on one occasion he was involved in a controversy over whether a black couple could cast a regular ballot.

Now, Adams is accusing the Obama Justice Department of being "motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law." This is racially inflammatory, politically motivated nonsense -- and it's nonsense even if Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh talk about it a thousand times a day. When an outlandish charge for which there is no evidence is treated as an on-the-one-hand-and-on-the-other-hand issue, the liars win.

The Sherrod case should be the end of the line. If Obama hates the current media climate, he should stop overreacting to it. And the mainstream media should stop being afraid of insisting on the difference between news and propaganda.

ejdionne@washpost.com

Summer of Suck

I am loathe to begin a blog entry this way, because it is such a downer and I am not sure it is really my place.  There is a fine line between saying that which is important and opting to respect someone's privacy and I probably am teetering on it, but though my blog doesn't have the greatest number of hits, or the highest traffic volume, I have come to consider those that come here to be somewhat of a family, whose opinions I have at times sought or just hoped that my prattling didn't annoy you too much.  That being said, this little coterie was diminished by one recently with the passing of Donna.  I will not go into details because that is the fine line I am drawing here, there are some on my friend's list  who knew her far better than I and I am sure are grieving in their own way, there are others who may have only noticed a passing comment she may have made on an entry here.  Whatever the case may be, I just wanted to take a moment to honor the passing of a friend.  I think this sums it up pretty well from my vantage point....
"No one's death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humanness." -  Hermann Broch

This really is becoming the "summer of suck" if I do say so myself.  Never thought I would be this thankful to just be working.  Okay, I would be more thankful if I was back doing a radio gig, I have to be honest about that, but anymore it is just a matter of getting out of the house so as not to sit around moping too much.  I have taken to putting in 6 day weeks at work, the boss lets me and there is always something that needs done, one of the perks of my job right now.  Last week it was just putting in the Monday order, this week it was putting away excess inventory from our store closing; whatever the reason I am just glad I have found some things to keep me occupied.  On my one day off last week I went ahead and took in a 5 mile walk under the guise that I would use the opportunity to collect some Coke caps.  After all I do have a blog giveaway coming up if I get to 2000 pts, and the last three weeks I have pulled in 120, 120 and 117pts to add to the number just a little bit.  No plans on a jaunt out this weekend, but still I have the total over 1600 pts now and if I ever get to see Phil again (he broke his leg, more summer of suck funness) I am sure he has another bag of caps waiting for me.  Usually he and I get together once a month or so and have lunch/dinner and just do some catching up, but he has been pretty much copped up indoors with his bum wheel.  Thankfully for him he has air conditioning, because the weather has just added to the overall suckiness of the summer situation. Yesterday I made the mistake after going into work of hopping on weather.com just to see how hot it was.  Mind you, the weather readings are usually taken out at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, where it is a tad bit more open (the airport is about 20 miles outside the city proper) so the temps are usually off by about 5 degrees or so from the temps in downtown.  Still when I went to check the temp it was 92 with a heat index reading of 97.  For those not into the meteorological terminology, the heat index is sort of summer's version of the wind chill factor, where you take the humidity into account and develop a sense of what the temperature feels like, as opposed to the actual temperature.  Since one thing we are good for is humidity, many of the last few days have had the chance of a severe thunderstorm, though they all seem to be missing me.  We had a couple of brief showers last night, which I went out and played in just because they felt so good compared to the normal buckets of sticky heat we are growing accustomed to this summer.
Of course anytime the weather is like this, leave it to the TV news to try to scare people, especially the weathermen (and women).  Constant updates of a small storm cell here, or a potential shower there, but no long term actual ground soaking rain to speak of.  At one point last week I had gotten home from work and clicked on the TV and during one of the commercial breaks they had pimped the upcoming newscast at 5pm, where they said that they were "tracking storms with our Storm Tracker Radar".  Really?  You're not fucking baking cookies with it?  Good for you, thanks for the update dumbass.
I haven't talked to most of my family since the whole post funeral nonsense took place.  Other than talking to my one aunt (Amy) just to get a vibe on what I should do (truth be told I knew what I was going to do, just checking to see if I was being reasonable enough or not, reason sometimes escapes me when I get too pissed off) and my cousin Melanie, who seems to share most of my feelings about everything, but she at least has more distance from the family, I only leave an hour away, she lives in Dallas, about halfway across the country and right now I think I would trade her places if I could.
Just a note here for those that sometimes pay attention to details.  When this post finally appears on your feed, it will say that it was posted at an earlier time than it actually appears.  That is through no fault of my own, save for the notion that I sometimes save my work and move on to other things.  If I save my work in the media locker here on Multiply, Multiply uses that date as the date the entry was posted, even if it wasn't viewable by the public at that point.  Just wanted to clear up any confusion that my have occurred.
Part of the reason there is a delay is that I am naturally someone who an't seem to bang out a blog entry in one sitting, but part of the blame also lies in the fact that I spent part of my downtime this weekend in a battle with a virus on my computer.  Since I am typing we can all assume that I won.  It was one of those pain in the ass type deals where something pops up claiming to be a virus scanning program but you instantly know it isn't.  Problem was I couldn't get rid of it with Malware, and my first attempt with Ad Aware picked up something, but when I just opted to do the reccommended action (which I sadly assumed would be t remove it) it did "no action taken" instead.  Worse still was that anytime I rebooted my computer I had to be quick on the draw to get a program opened, because if I didn't it would render any .exe program inoperable and instead post a warning about a non existent virus, when the only virus was the program itself.  After firing off a Hijack This and deleting some entries and going back to Ad Aware to see that it didn't remove the offending program I finally got this thing back up and running in not so short order. 
       Of course the delay sucked for you because it kept me from posting this, which I am sure you all have just been waiting for and it sucked for me because it kept me from earning more swagbucks, where I am just 39 away from my next Amazon gift card.   So far I have gotten 27 of them in 8 months, good for $135 over at Amazon.  Right now I still have over $80 in my account, I am thinking of burning off a few CDs with their MP3 collection, just not sure what I want right now. 
      Before I forget, there is an addition to the change meter, another $1.67 and the $170 barrier is now officially eclipsed, with the new total being $171.12.  You know, after only pulling in $39 in the first three years of this project, it has almost started to take off a little bit. 
      I am not sure what the next entry will be about, nor when it will be.  Of course it could always be an Asshat (Andrew Breitbart is looking real good these days) but then again, a little Cuban restaurant has opened around the corner and I am thinking of taking in the cuisine, since I have had very little exposure to Cuban food in my existence (remember my family eats french fries in Mexican restaurants) and it is in the place of the former Wing Pitt, where I used to go to get tasty wings and cajun chicken sandwiches.  But this place actually looks like they spent a few dollars on sprucing up the place, especially the equipment behind the counter (which means more to me than a nice looking dining room) and the menus look enticing.  Then again I have come to learn in the last couple of months, life is more than capable of delivering a shitstorm or three, so far be it from me to promise a blog entry only to have something else happen an change the course of blogging events.  I can say that it probably wll not be an entry to the Neverending Thread though, I am making progress in my most recent book, but not nearly at the pace of previous books.  Anyway I think it is time for me to scoot. 
Sing us out will ya?

The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends
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Stolen Content - Down and out on the farm

I haven't been there in a while, at least from a posting perspective, but I am still reading the editorial page of the Washington Post, which is good because then I run into things like this.  Suffice it to say some heads should roll, and not Shirley Sherrod's (I am glaring in your direction Tom Visack), who was actually trying to make a point at an NAACP function when an edited version of the speech she gave cost her her job.  But since it is stolen content time around here, that means Richard Cohen said it better than me.

The firing of Shirley Sherrod -- and the cowardice of Tom Vilsack

From everything I’ve read, I’m told that the firing of Shirley Sherrod, the once and probably future Agriculture Department official in Georgia, is about race or dishonest journalism or the vagaries of the 24-hour, incessant news cycle. Permit me a dissent. It is mostly about cowardice.

The coward in question is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who, even though from Iowa, fired Sherrod in a New York minute, and by extension and tradition –“The buck stops here,” remember? – Barack Obama himself. Where do they get off treating anyone so shabbily?

Sherrod was caught on video supposedly telling an NAACP meeting last March that she had not given a certain farmer the service he deserved because he was white. A clip of that speech made the rounds of right wing blogs and media outlets -- Fox News, for instance -- and in no time Vilsack ordered the woman canned. He moved with what would have been commendable dispatch had he first heard her side of the story, viewed the entire video and asked what its source was. The answers should have stopped him in his tracks.

The full video showed that Sherrod, after repressing some racial antipathy, treated the farmer with dignity and efficiency -- and, anyway, the entire event took place more than 20 years ago. Had Vilsack seen the entire video, he would also have learned that Sherrod’s story had a moral: She learned that poverty, not race, is what mattered. Since this is America, it is God who taught her that.

But that full video was not shown by the right wing blogger Andrew Breitbart.

Sherrod was fired so quickly she says she was called on her cell phone while driving and told to pull over. Her resignation was then demanded. She did as she was told -- and then screamed to the media, which, since this is America, is her God-given right. Her story, complete with praise from the white farmer’s widow, started to spill out. It was clear she had been done wrong. Vilsack would not budge. The White House would not budge. The Obama administration could not afford to appear soft on black racism. They could not afford to say sorry, either.

Little by little, the administration backed down. Vilsack yesterday explained that he had asked for Sherrod’s resignation because “the controversy surrounding her comments would create a situation where her decisions, rightly or wrongly, would be called into question making it difficult for her bring jobs to Georgia.” These are appalling words. “Rightly or wrongly?” The two are not the same. One you punish, the other you defend. This is what our system is about. Look it up.

And, even if rightly, you do not dismiss an employee, wreck a career, without doing due diligence. What’s her side of the story? Where did the video come from? Is Breitbart a trustworthy source? The term “rightly or wrongly” suggests that the truth does not matter -- only perception, the politics of the situation. That, in turns, brings us back to the beginning. This entire episode is only partially about race or tawdry journalism. It’s fundamentally about cowardice -- about not doing the right thing until pressured and not adhering to fundamental principles of fairness.

Vilsack had a solemn obligation to treat his employee fairly. Obama, who reportedly was briefed on the matter and stood by his man, had a similar obligation. The two ought to be ashamed.

The Curve is back

For those who don't know what 'The Curve" is, it is the argument I have that sometimes my blog sets the trends rather than follows them, and things that I have a tendency of mentioning pop up down the road.  You might remember from a while back that I posted a video of a neat little toy called the Shake Weight, and in the video it kind of looked like the guy was beating off.  For those that missed that touching gem, allow me to attach a link right here.  Now note the date I posted the video, July 1st.  Why is that significant you may ask, because this piece would show up on the local news a mere two weeks later.  True it is the female version of the masturbation weight, but lets be honest kids, we know exactly where they got the idea, don't we?

Not first

The second half of the baseball challenge kicked off and I am taking a moment to gloat, simply because I doubt it will last long

 

 

Weekend Update

Here it is, almost a quarter till 1am on Wednesday morning and I am sort of getting ready to get back in the saddle at work in about 6 hours.  I can't determine whether or not this is a good or bad thing, so I will just call it a thing and leave it at that.

First I would like to say thanks to those who stopped by the page and sent along their condolences, much appreciated.  While I put the original obituary on the page, the fine folks at the funeral home took some of the photos we had and put together an online video tribute.  Not saying you have to look, after all by and large I am betting most of you don't know the people in the photos, but if you are interested it can be found here.

For the rest of you, actually for all of you I guess this story picks up right about where I left off, 4am Friday morning.  Obviously the phone call was a pretty shitty way to start the day and my mom asked if I wanted to come home in the morning or wait till the evening on Friday.  Since technically I didn't expect anything to happen Friday, other than family members calling more family members to share the news I opted to go ahead in to work.  After all, we were already running short handed, with Rick off for his anniversary and Belinda needing Friday off that was going to put us two people short.  Me not being there when I could be there would have just made the problem worse, especially with two trucks coming in and me needing to place three orders for the following week.  Far better to just go in and do my Benito Mussolini and make sure the trains run on time and keep my brain occupied than sit around dwelling on everything. 

When my grandmother was first readmitted to the hospital and subsequently hospice care I had cleared the path to get some time off of work at a moment's notice, so I knew getting time off wouldn't be a problem, but there was no sense taking time off just for taking time offs sake.  Instead I figured I would do my work thing and let Ed know that I would be taking Monday and Tuesday off the following week.  With me already having weekends off, Saturday and Sunday weren't going to be a problem, but since I originally didn't know the times of the services (I posted the obit after work on Friday, which is when I first learned the dates and times) I was just working with what I deemed a rough sketch in my mind, assuming that the earliest a viewing would be would be Saturday, if they do two days of viewings that would be Sunday and the burial Monday.  I was right in my timing but for the wrong reasons, as there was only one day of viewing, Monday and the funeral on Tuesday, so my days off were on target but not because of my reasoning.  Instead my cousin Melanie was flying in from Dallas and she wasn't to arrive until Saturday night and another cousin Dennis was trying to get time off from the military, since he was currently stationed in Honolulu.  As it turns out they wouldn't let him go, since he had only three weeks left on his current deployment and while the military will let you fly home for immediate family, they are less forgiving when you get to the more diistant relations such as grandparents so he got stuck in Hawaii, a torture of which I hope to someday have.

Anyway I make it into work and start doing some of my daily tasks and the first manager to arrive is Dee.  She says that Wayne, who works with me most of the time, called off.  The thing is Wayne picked up a gig for two weeks working at the US Women's Open, being held in Oakmont, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  He was working as security out there, which was fine with me, if you can make a couple of extra sheckels by all means do.  My job is cool for a few reasons, but money wise there are certainly better options out there and if someone finds a gig that wil pay them more I am the first to tell them to grab it.  His job was apparently overnights, just making sure no one messed with the golf course between rounds and what not.  To me that is easy money, the kind that almost grows on trees.  I would have just taken the two weeks off and been done with it, but Wayne told management that he could still work a few mornings each week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7am-3pm.  Well the first week he ended up calling off two of the three days, now in the second week with us already shorthanded on Friday he calls off again.  Now I have no confirmation on what happened since I haven't been there since Friday but Ed said he was going to fire him.  If only he would have just requested both weeks off he would have been fine, but you can't say you will be there and then not show up three out of 6 days.  Now since I haven't been to work in a few days I will find out later today if the potential firing actually took place, though I do know his name wasn't on the schedule for this week so.......

Meanwhile on the very same day Sierra, who happens to be Belinda's daughter, also caught the firing ax.  She was working at our other location downtown.  Unlike us, who are open 24 hours, they close up shop each night at 6pm, and are also closed on weekends.  But as luck would have it the bosses were reviewing the surveillance footage of the store because they are having some problem down there with the air conditioning and what not, plus they had just recently fired Patty and I am sure they are checking up on things when what do they see but Sierra locking the doors an hour early and going home.  Now I don't know who was working with her and whether the entire crew got canned, but since she was the one with keys I know she got axed and that one I don't need to see the schedule to confirm.  I can't see how you could talk yourself out of that termination.

Also of note, you may remember the big hassle I went through about a month back, because we closed the one store and moved everything down to the other store.  The thing was, on the store we closed we had a lease for a couple of years yet, so we could use the space however we wanted, but on the store we moved everything to the newest lease that we signed was a month to month basis.  On the one hand it is good, if our store down there doesn't work we can close in short order, but on the other hand it also leaves you at the mercy of the leaseholder, if he can find a tenant who may pay more money, you got 30 days to pack up you shit and go.  Needless to say, because I am blogging bad news ad naseum here, we are moving back to the previous location meaning all of the work I had done before is all but useless.  Friday was very much turning into a day where life was seeing just how many peters would fit into my asshole at the same time.

The only plus was that I went to Ed and told him I needed the two days off, and even though he had potentially fired two people and was looking to start the week short handed he graciously just said to take as much time as I need, then asked me if I needed any money as well.  While I imagine the money would have be a loan, I was okay for cash, after all I wasn't springing for the funeral or anything like that.  Mostly I would just be buying junk at home, smokes and what not and not really footing the big bills.

So I made it home Friday night and posted the obit on here and packed my things, since my family wanted to pick me up, I could have just as easily taklen the bus, but who am I to turn down a free ride.  My mom calls and says they are leaving around 4pm, so I think I have about an hour to pack, but it ends up being almost three hours until they get all of their ducks in a row.  Rather than go straight home, we stop for dinner at Spaghetti Benders (again).  I think there are only a handful of places that my family stops, that being the most frequent.  The only thing I can say about the dinner was I want the brunette waitress back.  When we sat down, a brunette came and wiped down the table, and I admit she was okay to look at, but then another waitress comes to take our order and the best adjective I can come up with without being too insulting would be sloooooow.  Bad enough the Pirate game is on the TV above the bar, where the Buccos were in the process of finding newer and more creative ways to lose, and the live entertainment was one of those trendy, strum a guitar on a stool type ballad singers who was taking an ax to The Pretenders "Back on the Chain Gang", but the waitress was moving so slow that I could have swore I heard the tortoise in the kitchen yelling "Pick it up a little, will ya".  I would suggest a new line of work, perhaps the Department of Motor Vehicles is hiring, because waitressing isn't going to pay the bills long term.

After dinner it was home and to nappy land, which comes quite easily after being roused at 4am under less that stellar circumstances. 

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Wednesday evening

Okay, I took a break, I wish I could say I slept before work but I just couldn't get to sleep, so instead I laid there before finally just getting up and getting the day at work started.  Of interest is that while I had all but assumed Sierra would be fired, apparently Belinda lobbied Ed on her behalf and saved Sierra's job.  Now I get a mom wanting to gelp out her daughter, I just don't know what is to gain by throwing yourself out there for something that was so blatantly wrong, now anything Sierra does wrong isn't going to look bad on just her, but Belinda as well for defending her.  But hey kids, not my problem.  I do know that Wayne hasn't been brought back yet, I guess I will find out for sure one way or the other on Friday, but they hired a new kid, Joe, who did okay for his third day there, his first two he was literally thrown to the wolves with no one there to really show him the ropes.  I will not get my hopes too high, but I have worked with far worse in my 41 years of existence.  And truth be told, I all but expected to be pulling 10-12 hour days for the immediate future, now maybe I will not have to.  Okay, intermission is over, time to get back to our story.

Saturday morning was 4 cups of coffee just to get the brain firing properly.  Mike got up and said he was going to get his car, you know, the Corvette from photo I posted from a while back.  He sometimes takes it out when the weather is nice and it was looking to be a pretty nice day, at least from a meteorlogical standpoint.  So he takes off and is gone for a while, I don't even know what I did, maybe tinkered on the laptop, maybe watched some TV, when the phone rings.  Apparently Saturday was the scheduled day for our family reunion and Mike was out showing off his car for the huddled masses.  Now I realize that given my grandmother had just pased away the previous day there was little to no chance of notifying anyone about cancelling or rescheduling, and even less of a chance of changing the date of the reservations for the sportsman's club where the event is anually held, but this being my first of even hearing about it (usually my grandmother made sure to see I was sent an invitation with the date and time on it) and the rather somber mood I was already in, the last thing I wanted to do was be reunion-ing.  I don't begrudge those that decided to go, for some I am sure they hadn't heard the news yet and others probably used the opportunity to try and keep themselves busy so as not to think about things, but I fell into neither category, I just wasn't in the mood.  I probably pissed off a few relatives, but had I been there I would have pissed off more than a few, I was pretty much in that anti social frame of mind.

The only other thing of merit that really happened Saturday was again we went out to eat, it became a recurring theme for most of my trip home, as well as nobody letting me buy.  I usually got stuck just leaving the tip, and trust me that first meal with the horrible waitress, had I bought the meal, I wouldn't have tipped at all, she was that bad, but since that was all I had to spring for I threw some money on the table.  Saturdays choice of restaurant was Tres Amigos, I swear my family just goes to the same places again and again, but at least this time I wasn't the only one eating Mexican, Mike actually got burritos, I went with the Taco Salad and of course my mom went with chicken and french fries.  Damn it Pam, now I have that "Better Off Dead" thing in my head and I have to keep from typing French bread, French Dressing and Peru.  Sorry, that was about as inside of a joke as you can get on one of my blogs, referring back to another blog I recently commented on.

Sunday we planned on going out to my uncle Mouse's house (his name is Richard but everyone has called him Mouse since long before I was born) to drop off money for the flowers for the funeral and just do some visiting.  Thankfully I brought swimming trunks and took advantage of the pool, which while not heated, was surpisingly comfortable at 84 degrees when we climbed in.  I managed to get a little bit of a sun burn, but it was worth it. 

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Thursday evening

Dang, another day being spent on this entry.  At some point I just need to bang this thing out and be done with it.  Perhaps this will be that day.  On the work front all I can say is there is still no news on whether or not Wayne has actually been fired or not, heck no one in the office even knows.  Two different managers have given me two different answers to that question.  Wayne did stop by to talk to Ed today but Ed refused to meet with him, he actually said not to let Wayne near the office.  So the soap opera continues for a few more days, since Ed will be meeting with our supplier, Sledd, in West Virginia regarding the deli section we are trying to add to the store.  The next day we may get an update on our little version of "As the World Turns" will be on Monday at the earliest.

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Friday evening

Yes another delay, and this one is related to our overall story, so in that regard it is an update to the Weekend Update, but since we haven't gotten to where we are going yet I will just add it as part of the story.  Suffice it to say that it was enough to piss me off to the point I didn't want to blog anymore last night.  I would like to credit my stoppage to procrastination, but instead I am just going to attribute it to its rightful source, anger.

When we last left off of the major theme of this entry, my grandmother's passing, we were up to Sunday.  I understand that we held things back a bit because of trying to get all of the family home, but part of me was also just wanting to get everything going.  I had been home since Friday evening and other than the trip to my uncle's house, I really had done nothing other than eat out, and life's general lack of inertia was starting to make me a little antsy.  About the only thing unique about Sunday night was that we actually ate at home for a change that night, roast and potatoes with a salad, just solid, home cooked food for a change. 

Monday would be the day of the viewings, one afternoon and one evening.  I'll admit that one of the reasons funerals kind of creep me out is that often the people in the casket look a little to plastic or fake for my tastes, almost like the person who has passed away has been replaced by a cheaper imitation knock off.  That wasn't the case here, it was probably the best my grandmother had looked in a few years, not that she ever looked bad to me, but just more restful than the last few times I had seen her.  The funeral home also had the video I linked to above playing in a continuous loop for those that hadn't seen it yet (I had already pulled it up on Mouse's computer the day before and we all gathered around for a look at it).  The afternoon viewing was unique in that a couple of the elder members of the Elderton community showed up, Vic Schall and Russell Brumbaugh.  Vic for years ran one of the few insurance agency offices in the town, a State Farm office and quite a few Eldertonians were clients of his, my grandparents included, until he retired.  Russell Brumbaugh was formerly an English teacher at Elderton High School, and when I had him, in 9th grade I think, I thought that he was a tad bit older, and that was 25 years ago or so, yet here he was looking as good as ever.

After the first viewing many of the family members headed back to my grandmother's house, where of course there was more than enough food.  Not sure what the theory is behind food and funerals, maybe eating helps people preclude thinking, I am not sure.  Of note was that one of my uncles, Will, didn't join us.  I don't know what to make of it, maybe he was upset about something, or maybe he just wanted to grieve in his own time and manner, after all I had blown off the family reunion two days prior.  One of the things that had been coming up prior to my grandmother's passing, and something we will get to more later on, was what she actually wrote in her will.  In many ways the whole thing had created some much unneeded tension.  Not that my grandmother was wealthy or anything, but she lived comfortably. By the time of her and my grandfathers retirements they had built enough of a nest egg that they could withstand most anything bad financially that would come their way.  As a result there is some money invovled, how much I do not know, probably enough that it would be a noticeable sum of money without being anywhere near lottery winnings type cash.  Because no one knew what was written in the will, there was some much unneeded he said/she said goings on among some of the siblings.  Just bullshit as far as I am concerned, my only concern was my grandmother and nothing more, everything else was just noise.  But I can't ignore the fact that that may have contributed to Will passing on the family gettogether between viewings.

The evening viewing was more heavily attended, people tend to work during the day and what not, but there were some people there that I hadn't seen in ages as well, including Andrew Kimmel, who I graduated with way back in 1987.  His family owns a large farm right outside of Elderton and while I believe Andrew went on to Penn State University after high school, I know he eventually came back, and is still a member of my grandmother's church.  There were some other people as well, like Sandy, who my mom used to run around with for a time after my parents divorced but long before she remarried her current husband.  And of course there were lots of people that I wouldn't know who they were no matter how long I stared at them.  The siblings formed a line leading up to the casket, a line that had a tendency of not moving because Mouse was at the very head of it, being the oldest, and he would have a tendency much like my blogs, to just talk and talk. 

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Saturday afternoon

Yes, again I delved away from the blog to go and do some other things. Right now I am waiting for the Canadian Football League game to pop up on ESPN 3, since it is broadcast on the computer and is better than any of the TV offerings that are out there currently. I had to drag my butt into work to place the order for Monday, things were a bit of a mess on Friday so I didn't get it done then. On the bright side, Joe, who was hired in place of Wayne pending a determination on what actually will happen to Wayne, has done an admirable job this week, given he was pretty much thrown to the wolves during his first week. With me not being there Monday or Tuesday, he was stuck with the grocery order and the 7 UP delivery on Monday, then the Pepsi delivery on Tuesday, and while some things weren't put exactly where they should be, given he was working without a net I was content that he managed to get quite a few things done. I was pretty impressed and when I got a chance to work with him on Wednesday and Thursday he still seemed to be doing a pretty good job. Friday was a train wreck, though it really wasn't Joe's fault, usually we have two deliveries, one from Coke and a grocery order that arrive, and I have to meet with reps from Pepsi and 7 Up plus place a grocery order for Monday as well. All of that would normally make for a busy day, but Ed scheduled a meeting with Sledd and took Rick with him, which meant I had to do some of Rick's work as well, so I am running to the bank for change for the weekend and taking deposits down for the store as well, plus I had to price some items that come in daily, deli sandwiches, salads and what not and see that they got out. Plus the deliveries, which normally show up relatively early, didn't show up until much later, groceries didn't come in until almost noon and Coke arrived somewhere around 1pm, usually they arrive at 10am and 8am respectively, and since I can't do a grocery order until we put the current delivery away and I can see what it is we are missing, it just pushed everything further back than things needed to be. As a result I ended up staying late and still didn't get everything done that needed doing, so I trekked in today to finish up, as well as making a detour for breakfast, some chocolate chip and banan pancakes from Pamela's, with a few cups of coffee thrown in in case the sugar rush wasn't enough

But enough of that, I was telling a story and it is probably better that I get back to it.

Tuesday was the day of the actual funeral and burial. The male grandchildren, myself included, were the pall bearers. To Mouse's credit, he asked everyone rather than assuming they would do it, though for me the answer was a no brainer, of course I would. So it was me, and my cousins Bobby, Josh, Tim, Christopher, and Scott. The service was nice, some people got up to say some kind words, I am usually pretty speechless in such occasions and this was no different. Of course after the fact I can sit here and think about what I might have said, but at the time my mind was just drawing a complete blank. After the service was the trip to the cemetary. Because Elderton is so small, it literally was almost a stone's throw from the funeral home, just right across the highway. There were a few words said by the preacher, then anyone who wanted one was able to take a flower from one of the arrangements that were sent to the funeral home, I got a yellow rose which I laid on top of the casket. I would like to say that was the end of things but it wasn't. That was when I found out that the siblings were going to grandma's house for the reading of the will. I found this a tad bit tasteless, hell they hadn't even finished putting the coffin in the ground and already people were worried about how the estate was going to be divvied up. Thankfully it was just the kids, no one else was to be there, so I got to avoid the whole mess. Apparently it went okay, at least as okay as things like that can go and considering all of the chattering that had happened beforehand, that should count for something. I went back down to Mouse's house where Bobby, Scott and I hopped in the pool.

It took a little while, but eventually my mom and her husband came down and I climbed out of the pool and headed home to pack and get ready for the trip back to Pittsburgh. Apparently Mouse got the house in the will, the rest of the siblings were given equal shares of whatever monies my grandmother may have, that has yet to be determined and I haven't inquired about how much money is actually involved because I really don't care.

This would normally be the end of our story and I would say anyone wishing to comment can do so now, though I am not sure what comment could actually be left on a blog like this, but sadly the story continues. I am putzing around online Thursday night, I head over to Facebook to tinker with some apps and what not when I see a message from my Aunt Carrie in my inbox. She would be my grandmother's daughter in law, married to my Uncle Bud, the middle child of the three my grandmother had (in age they would go Mouse, Linda (my mom), Bud, Amy, Will). I crack it open to see what is what and here is what I get

　

"

Matt, Bud and the rest of the family are really worried about your Mom health wise and other wise. When they divide the Money from Grandma's estate they are worried that Mike will convince her to do something with it that would only benefit him. They are worried that she might need the money down the road for her health care. Thought it might be a good idea if she put it into a account with her name and yours so he couldn't get to it. We are not trying to be smart but are truely worried about her considering the situation. If you need to call Bud let me know what would be a good time for him to call you. Love Carrie"

Now I know my mom has some health issues, she had a minor stroke a while back, and while not old by any standard, she isn't young either at 61. There are times when I catch her mixing up names and what not, though I am prone to do that myself from time to time, if not outright just forgetting them. That being said, while I am concerned about my mom's health, the rest of this message just out and out pissed me the fuck off. I know that my mom and her husband can spend money unwisely from time to time, but last I checked it was their money and they don't exactly have debt collectors knocking down their door. And I sure as fuck don't want to have anything to do with any inheritance, if my mom wants to open an account with the money for herself, since assuredly it was left specifically to her in the will, that is fine with me, but don't slap my name on it. And whatever she decides to do with her inheritance, it really isn't anybody's business but hers, just as what any of the other kids do with their money is none of anybody else's business. I believe my reply, though somewhat tempered, went like this

Greetings, like you and everyone else I am worried about my mom's health as well. As for the money from grandma's will, that stuff is really none of my business and honestly I don't want to make it my business. The only thing that really matters to me is that my grandmother is gone and the memories I have from my times with her, how any of her children, including my mom, opt to spend their inheritance is not something I am going to get involved with. If my mom wants a separate account for her inheritance, she is more than welcome to set one up, but I don't want my name anywhere near it. It just isn't how I want to remember my grandmother.

Now today is the first day that all of the kids are supposed to get together at the house and start going through personal effects, and if anyone has something specific they want they are allowed to take. My mom asked if there was anything I might like, and I said no, the further I keep myself from this clusterfuck the happier I am going to be. I recieved a couple of things from my grandmother in her last couple of months, one was a letter that she wrote me after Mother's Day. I had taken the opportunity to send her flowers when I sent some to my mom, and on the card I just signed it from all of the grandkids, something I had done previously as well, under the guise that I really didn't want to take credit for it so better to just sign it from all of us, but someone spilled the beans this year and told her it was me. As a result she sent me a nice letter thanking me for the flowers and just some simple goings on on the home front. The second was that a week before she passed away she took the time to send me a birthday card, something I told her and Brandi's graduation party she need not worry about, but that is just the type of person she was. Even during her last week as her organs were starting to fail her one of the things she was worried about was who was taking the coffee pot to the family reunion. Some people would worry about getting better, yet she was worried about everyone else. So I have my keepsakes, I need not go pawing through her personal belongings looking for a memento or two, and I sure as hell don't need to be attached to her estate in any way shape or form.

See, this stuff is still making me angry, two days later, so you can imagine how bad this blog might have turned out had I not stopped from time to time. That being said I am stopping for the last time here, I got enough proof reading to keep me busy for a while.

Damn phone

When it rings at 4am, you know it isn't good, case in point;

 

Josephine I. Orr

Josephine I. “Jo” Orr, age 81, of Elderton, PA, died on Friday, July 9, 2010, at Indiana Regional Medical Center.

She was born on April 28, 1929, in Juanita Twp., Blair Co., PA, the daughter of Clyde Joseph and Isabelle C. (Williamson) Kent.

Mrs. Orr was a member of the Plumcreek Church of the Brethren. After 25 years of service, she retired in 1988 from the U.S. Postal Service at the Elderton Post Office as a Postal Clerk. Jo enjoyed solving word puzzles and quilting. Jo will be best remembered for her love and devotion to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

She will be deeply missed by her three sons, Richard J. Orr and wife Mary of Elderton, Buddy R. Orr and wife Carrie of Indiana, and William C. Orr and wife Valerie of Elderton; two daughters, Linda S. Miller and husband Michael of Indiana, and Amy E. Tady and husband Fred of Tarentum; eighteen grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; and a brother, Carl I. Kent of Cheektowaga, NY.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Marison K. Orr, with whom she shared 58 years of marriage; a grandson, Michael Pritt; a brother, Ray Kent; and a sister, Doris Jean Reed.

Family will receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 PM on Monday, July 12, 2010 at the Clark Chapel of Bauer Funeral Home, Inc., 238 South Main St., Elderton, PA.

Additional visitation will be held from 10:00 AM until the time of the funeral service at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at the funeral home with the Rev. Randy Derck officiating.

Interment will follow in the Elderton Cemetery, Armstrong Co., PA.

Terminal velocity

Wish I could say we are meet here under much better circumstances, but you can only play the cards that you are dealt, and the ones being dealt around here suck for the most part.  This is sort of an update from the "June" blog, for the one or two of you that actually read it congrats, you have an inkling more than the others about what has been transpiring.  Let's just say things have went from bad to better to worse since then.
When last I left off in that particular entry my grandmother was staying in a temporary care facility, nothing too harmful, though by and large she disliked it and would have been much happier going home.  The deal the doctors made with her was a pretty simple one, if she could go a week and continue with her therapy and show improvement then she could indeed go home.  So when I left the hometown sojourn there were only 5 or so days left before she was to be back in her own house, but things have a tendency of not going according to plan, and sure enough they didn't, as she got worse, not better, and ended up once again in the ICU at the hospital.  Now one of the things I mentioned in that particular entry was that I was wondering how she kept doing it, fighting back time and time again from the near edge of death.  Maybe there is some sort of overpowering will involved that unless one is on death's doorstep it is impossible to comprehend, maybe it is just luck or fate and nothing more, but whatever the reason the readmittance to the hospital was once again seen as a bad sign, as it very well should be. 
But then, in something not unlike the "Thrilla in Manilla" with death and my grandmother sitting in the roles previously held by Ali and Frazier, another comeback by my grandmother went so well that she was actually released to go home, provided of course that someone was with her there all of the time.  So some family members lined up, either to stop by and help out during the day, or to help out during the overnights, but for almost a week my grandmother was back home and all seemed to be looking up again.  Then her blood sugar dropped, and  she was once again taken back into the hospital where more complications were discovered, including some infections that had gotten into her bloodstream apparently.  The problem was, given how much she had been in and out of the hospital recently, the doctors were wary of inserting another IV unless absolutely necessary, because previous IVs had left her arms severely bruised to the point that is was questionable whether they could even access a vein without doing more harm than good. 
It was at this point that I finally approached my boss at work today and told him what was going on, that realistically I may be needing a few days off at literally a moment's notice.  To his credit Ed looked at me and just said to take whatever I needed, if I needed time off, fine, if I needed money he would take care of that as well, I sometimes forget that, while I have a relatively minor job in the grand cosmos of employment, my employers really do kick ass for those that work for them.   Considering that we are running short staffed as it is, with one person out working security for the Women's US Open golf tournament, and two others off celebrating their wedding anniversary I hate to be an additional burden, but alas I have no control over the timing of events. 
So I made it back home today after work, I figured later this evening I would call my mom and let her know that I have everything squared away at work come what may, and really almost willing my phone to not ring, after all, as long as it doesn't my grandmother is still alive and presumably my mom would be sitting with her until the hospital kicked her out, when around 6:30pm the phone did in fact ring, my mental powers of phone manipulation lacking severely.  If ever I wanted it to be a telemarketer, that would have been the time, but it wasn't, it was in fact my mom.   And the news isn't good, they have opted for hospice care, in all essence saying that the clock is essentially ticking down with nothing good to happen in sight.  I am scheduled to go home this weekend, provided my grandmother makes it that long, if not I guess I am headed home sooner rather than later.  I gave my mom my work number just in case it is needed and for now all I do is sit here and wait, hoping the phone doesn't ring again.

Asshat - Freedom of speech

I believe when I first saw this I posted it on my Facebook page at the "Passion of the Anti Christ", because while we live in a country where there are certain freedoms, such as speech, acting on them in such a vile manner may win you an Asshat award from time to time.  And of course you get bonus points if you have a hierarchy to your stupidity, such as I will burn down your house, but only after you blow me.  Good thing too, because if you burn down the house first, I doubt she is going to be in the mood.  Anyway, congrats Mel Gibson, this is your Asshat.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Mel Gibson's Racist Rant Caught On Tape - Tells Oksana She Would Get 'Raped By N***ers'

By Doug

Created 07/01/2010 - 12:58pm

In one of the most explosive, racist and vile outbursts by a celebrity ever caught on tape, Mel Gibson told the mother of his love child that the way she was dressed would get her "raped by a pack of n***ers," RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

It's a shocking and blockbuster development in the couple's bitter legal battle, and Mel's disgusting words are on audio tape. His racist, misogynist statement is one of the secrets lurking in his war with his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

RadarOnline.com has heard the tape, which also includes Mel telling Oksana he will burn down her home.

Drunken Mel previously shocked the world with his anti-Semetic comments when busted for DUI. Now, the new racist outburst has taken the Oscar winner to an even deeper low.

His outburst came during a series of explosive arguments with Oksana, mother of his infant daughter Lucia. They have been battling in court, with documents under seal, for the past several weeks.

And there is more than one disgusting outburst from Mel. RadarOnline.com has listened to the hate-fuelled rants the Braveheart star unleashed during fights with Oksana as their relationship unraveled.

"You're an embarrassment to me," Mel tells her at one point.

"You look like a f***ing pig in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n***ers, it will be your fault."

Mel's attorney told RadarOnline.com that he is no longer commenting on the case and said Mel's publicist is the only Mel official who will speak for him.

Mel's profane outbursts are littered with references to Oksana being a "whore" and "c**t".

In another tirade, Mel tells Oksana: "How dare you act like such a bitch when I have been so f**king nice."

He warns, "I am going to come and burn the f**king house down... but you will blow me first."

The emergence of the explicit tapes is a stunning development in the couple's bitter separation and court battle over custody of their young daughter.

RadarOnline.com first broke the story about how Mel, 54, and Oksana, 40, filed dueling restraining orders against each other under seal.

Published reports say Oksana is alleging Gibson punched her in the face twice during a fit of rage, giving her a concussion and knocking out two of her front teeth.

Gibson does not deny that they had a confrontation but has simply described it, through his lawyer, as a loud argument.

In a further outburst, Mel is heard telling her, "You're a bitch" to which Oksana insists, "I didn't do anything."

"Did so," Mel responds.

The tapes do not make it clear what the couple was arguing about.

But Mel tells Oksana, "Look what you did to me... look what you are... look what every part of you is... f**king fake... f**king fake.

"You are the most synthetic person... who the f*** are you?"

He also takes aim at Oksana's previous relationship with former James Bond star Timothy Dalton, with whom she has a 13-year-old son, Alexander.

A source close to the situation says Oksana claims she was forced to tape Mel after he made a series of death threats.

The source says she hopes the recordings will be admissible in any potential trial.

"Oksana's motivation for recording this was to show Mel how mean he was, and because she feared for her life," said the insider.

"She wanted to get evidence that he was dangerous and violent."

The source claims that Mel has heard two of the tapes.

Said the source, "Mel is doing everything he can to suppress this... they are the rantings of a mad man."

When cops arrested Mel in 2006 on suspicion of drunk driving, Mel barraged them with obscenities, tried to escape custody and spewed bizarre anti-Semitic remarks.

"F**king Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," Mel said.

He also allegedly told a female officer, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar t*ts?"

The news sparked worldwide outrage and the Mad Max star later apologized.

Gibson has seven children with former wife Robyn, whom he split with in 2009 after 27 years of marriage.

Glog - Wimbledon style

Who'd have thunk this? The idea struck me as I was thinlking of what to do this weekend and I realized that I hadn't glogged in a while and hell, I have never glogged tennis, so what better place to start than the Wimbledon men's final. Really I would have liked to do the women's final, but I had to place an order for work and by the time I got home it was over. Not that I would have expected anything less, as I said in this blog in the past, about the only thing that can stop Serena Williams anymore is Serena Williams. When she is on her game, as she was for the fortnight not dropping a single set in two weeks, there is no one in the women's game that is close to her. I am kind of getting that vibe from the men's final as well, I am expecting Nadal to win and win easily, if only because his ability to track down shots in almost inhuman. Tomas Berdych has played some pretty good tennis to get to the final, knocking off Federer in the quarters and the 3 seed Djokovic in the semis, but what awaits him is a completely different animal. Berdych does have something going for him, unlike women who face Serena, he is a big server, certainly bigger than Nadal, but the same argument was made of Soderling in the French Open final when Soderling played Nadal. Soderling even had to his credit as being the only man in the last few years to beat Nadal at Roland Garros, but as big as Sodeling was hitting, Nadal was just everywhere. It isn't enough to hit big against Nadal, you have to hit big and perfect, otherwise he will find a way to track it down.

That all being said, I don't know how a tennis glog is actually going to work, I really haven't mapped out my strategy for it yet, it is very much a work in progress. I am thinking of breaking it down by game and going from there.

Dubious note, the annoucer just said that never in Wimbledon history has a player beaten the top three seeds in the tournament, which is what Berdych will have to do if he wants to be crowned champion. The players have come out of the tunnel, so I guess we are getting underway here shortly. Of note, I will be interested in seeing who gets to call the match. And yes I just heard John McEnroe. The thing is, I usually like John McEnroe calling matches, but they have been using him on a recap show at night this past week, and he was just awful, trying to be more comedian than anything else and it ill suits him. He can be good in adding to what is taking place on the court, just not nearly as good as a clownish studio host.

While I wait for the action to get underway I think I will work on my scratch off tickets here at my desk. I picked up a few when I went out for my morning coffee, usually I am lucky if I even break even on them, but they do benefit older Pennsylvanians, and I am not getting any younger. Besides, while I rarely break even, I did buy a few yesterday after work and bought one that was a $500 winner, so I at least have a big plus for the weekend. Add to that that I actually won on the poker machine in the bar, another $45 to my weekend kitty, and while not flush with cash, I am at least not worrying about it for the next few days.

Set 1

Game 1 Berdych serving

Bedrych wins, leads 1-0 and doesn't give up a single point off of his serve. Nice start here for the underdog, but for all of the talk of his big serve ther were no aces, a number that will have to go up if he expects to win today.

Game 2 Nadal serving

Nadal wins, set tied 1-1. Of note, twice Nadal failed on his first serve and Berdych failed to capitalize on Nadal's second serve.

Game 3 Berdych serving

Berdych wins, leads 2-1. Both players have held serve early here, with only Berdych surrendering a single point off of his serve. Berdych also registered his first ace of the match, a category that he should win in this match.

Game 4 Nadal serving

Nadal wins 2-2 and the players continue to hold serve. Nadal registered two aces, but Berdych is winning the longer rallies here, almost the exact opposite of what I expected coming into this match.

Game 5 Berdych serving

Berdych continues to hold serve and takes a 3-2 lead in the first set and his court coverage to this point has been impressive, Nadal has only been able to pass him once or twice in the first 5 games.

Game 6 Nadal serving

Nadal holds serve as well, leaving the first set tied at 3-3. No real epic rallies yet, just competent tennis with each player holding serve with relative ease.

Game 7 Berdych serving

Nadal has three break points (0-40) in ths game, the first time either player has had a chance to break the other's serve, and on the second one he converts to take a 4-3 lead over Berdych in the first set.

Game 8 Nadal serving

Nadal holds serve again and leads 5-3 in the first and the match is starting to take on the feel of the French Open final earlier this year where Nadal is just starting to impose his will on the match, no matter how well Berdych is playing it might not be good enough.

Game 9 Berdych serving

Nadal gets two more break points here (15-40), but a Berdych ace fends off the first one, but can't stop the break of his serve on the second one and Nadal wins the first set 6-3. Nadal didn't even allow Berdych a break opprtunity in the first set and more than held his own in the ace department, Berdych's total inflated slightly with 2 aces in the last game.

Set 2

Game 1 Nadal serving

Berdych gets his first break opportunity here (30-40), but Nadal pushes the game back to duece. A double fault creates a second break point, and again Nadal pushes it back to duece. Berdych gets a third crack at breaking Nadal, interesting stat from McEnroe is that Nadal is saving 71% of his break opportunities this year. And he is three for three in this game alone, as he again fends off a break point. This could be a killer if Berdych doesn't win this game, this has been his best chance to break Nadal, if he comes away with nothing one has to wonder just what he can do to win. Nadal has committed 5 unforced errors in seeing this game reach its fourth duece. And yet despite his sloppy play Nadal wins and takes a 1-0 lead in the second set.

Game 2 Berdych serving

Berdych closes out the game with an ace and wins easily. This ends a streak of two straight games where he was broken.

Game 3 Nadal serving

Nadal holds serve, and in much easier fashion than his previous game and takes a 2-1 lead in the second set.

Game 4 Berdych serving

Berdych wins easily, not surrending a point in tying the second set at 2-2.

Game 5 Nadal serving

A 14 stroke rally, possibly the longest in the match to this point, is won by Berdych as he continues to win the longer points but can't string anything together as Nadal continues to hold serve and take a 3-2 lead in the second set.

Game 6 Berdych serving

Berdych holds serve again and much like the first set we start this one off at 3-3. Berdych has a lead in aces, but it is only 6-5 not nearly the amount one would expect from him to this point, or maybe it is just more from Nadal than one would expect to this point.

Game 7 Nadal serving

Nadal holds again, taking a 4-3 lead in the second set. Other than the first game of this set, Berdych has yet to get a break opportunity, and one has to wonder how many more he will get at this rate.

Game 8 Berdych serving

.

Berdych wins to hold serve at 4-4 and in the second set he has surrendered only 3 points off of his serve in 4 games.

Game 9 Nadal serving

Nadal holds and leads 5-4, putting all of the pressure squarely on Berdych heading into game 10.

If my tennis commentary sucks, it is very much a work in progress. I don't follow tennis like I do some other sports, but I do try to catch at least parts of the majors when they are on TV. I think I have watched 3 or 4 matches at Wimbledon this year, plus the sad update shows at night, the only plus to those being they at least pushed Leno back a half hour. Now if they could just push him off TV entirely.

Game 10 Berdych serving

Berdych again holds serve, tying the set 5-5 and has started to push his lead in aces, now at 10-5 and has seen his first % up to 54, but it still needs to be higher for him to be effective long term.

Game 11 Nadal serving

Nadal holds again and once again the pressure falls squarely to Berdych to hold and send this set to a tiebreaker, with Nadal having a 6-5 lead in the second set.

Game 12 Berdych serving

3 break points here for Nadal, as Berdych may be feeling the pressure of the moment. And Nadal needs only one, after Berdych played so well for most of the set, he loses the last game without even scoring a point and the loss puts him down two sets, with Nadal taking the second 7-5.

Set 3

Game 1 Nadal serving

Nadal wins game one of the set, and Berdych hasn't broken him yet, a sure bad sign down two sets already.

Game 2 Berdych serving

Berdych holds serve to tie the third set at 1-1. A typical Berdych service game to this point, but save for a couple of games service gavmes haven't been his problem, it has been when Nadal is serving that he hasn't stepped up.

Game 3 Nadal serving

Berdych has a break point here and once again fails to convert, making him 0-4 in break opportunities. And it becomes another missed opportunity as Nadal takes a 2-1 lead in the third set.The chances have been there for Berdych, Nadal has double faulted 3 times and committed 17 unforced errors yet for every opportunity that presents itself, Berdych just can't seem to break through and the clock is running out on his chances.

Game 4 Berdych serving

Berdych holds serve, tying the third set at 2 games a piece.

Game 5 Nadal serving

Nadal holds serve again, he has yet to be broken halfway through the third set of the match and he now leads the third set 3-2.

Game 6 Berdych serving

Another game where Berdych doesn't allow Nadal a single point, and he adds to his ace total with 2 more, he now has a 12-5 lead in aces and he has gotten his first serve percentage up to 60, but it is almost like a team adding on stats in garbage time, the outcome is all but determined now, unless Berdych can make an incredible rally here.

Game 7 Nadal serving

Nadal wins easily and takes a 4-3 lead. It will be interesting to see when Berdych's nerves start to kick in, given this is his first final in a major. At this point it really only takes one or two slip ups and the final will be over, so will Berdych continue to go after big shots with a nothing to lose attitude or will he start getting more defensive trying to delay the inevitable.

Game 8 Berdych serving

Berdych continues to hold serve, no evidence of nerves yet and the set is tied at 4-4.

Game 9 Nadal serving

Nadal does what he always does, holds serve, and it is 5-4 in the third set.

Game 10 Berdych serving

Berrdych serving to stay in the match and quickly falls behind 0-30 before battling back to 30 all. After taking a 40-30 lead it is Nadal that forces duece here in what could be the critical game of the match. A shot long by Berdych gives Nadal a break point and Nadal capitalizes and hits a passing shot for a winner to take the third set 6-4.

Rafael Nadal is your 2010 Wimbledon men's champion, winning in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

And since I have a couple of additional minutes here I will not ethe change meter has been updated again. Another $2.48 brings the new total to $169.45, a mere .55 from the big $170 mark.

Okay, off to spell check then post. Have a Happy 4th everyone, or 5th or whatever day it is based on the International date line.

It's official, masturbation is exercise

Now if only my penis were bigger, I could have a chest just like the guy in the video.

 

 

Whew, that's it indeed.