Monday Morning Musings

Or maybe I should say Monday Afternoon Musings. I took pain pills and a nap this morning, so I got to my office a bit late today, which threw everything off schedule. I snagged some cookies from The Pastry Chef's Baking website since I didn't have time to make anything to share with readers. Grab one if you'd like.

First off I've got to say that the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Olympic Games was a spectacular show. I especially liked the way the dancers formed the Olympic Rings with the fifth one forming a few moments later than the others. To some viewers it might have seemed like the dancers had missed a sound cue like they did in the opening ceremonies, but it was just a little whimsey that fit so well with other bits of whimsey throughout the show. The bear was also another highlight for me. What a sweet expression he had on his face.

Last week I read an article that Jacquielynn Floyd wrote about a man in Dallas who volunteers in the cardiac unit at Baylor University Medical Center. Even though women are more likely to be hospital volunteers, there are more and more men who are responding to that need. What sets Clarence Griffith apart from those other men is that he is the oldest one to regularly spend time with patient families who are in the cardiac waiting room, anxiously awaiting the outcome of tests or surgeries.

Griffith is 101, and he became a volunteer at the request of his cardiac surgeon following a triple by-pass surgery at age 94. That in itself is amazing as most people of that age could not tolerate such a physically and emotionally traumatic surgery, but that is just another indication that Griffith is not like most people.

So today I am celebrating a strong man instead of a strong woman, but I think everyone can agree that Griffith deserves the recognition. From my years of working as a hospital chaplain, I know what the kindness and attentiveness of this kind of volunteer can mean to families during these frightening and stressful times of life and death situations.

Griffith does this because that's what people are supposed to do. In her column, Floyd pointed out that Griffith has a very concise interpretation of Christian theology: "The Bible says we are supposed to help people."

She compared that simple approach to the "...sour political season of candidates using religion to justify extremist rhetoric.

"It's a wonder that they're talking about the same book. In Clarence Griffith's Bible, providing comfort and care and practical assistance to other human beings is the prime directive."

So let's raise a glass, or a cup, of whatever you have handy and toast a truly remarkable man. Kudos to you Mr. Clarence Griffith.

Did you watch the closing ceremonies? What part resonated the most with you? Did you watch the Kerrigan/Harding documentary prior to the closing ceremonies?

Friday's Odds and Ends

 


       Happy Valentine's Day

Do you have special plans for the day - evening? I'm glad I have play rehearsal tonight so I won't  be alone.

Today is the last day for the sale at Untreed Reads where all romance titles are discounted 30% off. All categories of romance from sweet to sexy are offered, including my romance novel, Play It Again, Sam.  One of my favorites from Laura Parker, Rose of the Mists, is also part of this sale.

Have you been watching the Olympics? What are your favorite events in the winter games? Figure skating is always high on my list, as well as the ice-dancing. I always get a bit nostalgic, remembering when I used to do a bit of figure skating, and my brother and I would dance on roller skates at the neighborhood rink.  Those were good times.

Coverage of the events has included the complaints about conditions at event venues not being optimum, especially during the slopestyle snowboarding competition. Apparetnly accomodations for the athletes have not been optimum either. The following notice was given to the Olympics volunteers and staffers in Sochi: "Due to an extreme shortage of pillows for athetes who unexpectedly arrived to Olympic Village in the mountains, there will be a transfer of pillows from all apartments to the storehouse on 2 February 2014."

Huh? They weren't expecting the athletes?  If it's not too late, I have a few pillows to share.

Photo Courtesy of Alaska Sleep Clinic

The other day I heard a comment aimed toward politicians, "Remember, you are running for something not against someone, so you don't have to get ugly."

Someone ought to make a banner out of that and send it to every campaign headquarters to be prominently displayed. Campaigning has gotten increasingly ugly year after year, and right now I am getting so tired of hearing politicians in TX talk about "how they will fight Obama." I know plenty of people don't like him, specially here in TX, but could we please stop portraying him as the enemy? At the very least you could respect the office, and contrary to what some folks might think, he is not "waging a war on Texas." So politicians need to stop saying, "I will win the war against Obama."

Please stop.

I will vote for the first candidate for any Texas office who does not include the president's name in his or her campaign ad.

Now to end on a lighter note.  "Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas." ~Paula Poundstone

Friday's Odds and Ends

Did you watch the beginning of the Olympic coverage last night on prime time? Did you find it odd that the coverage began before the opening ceremonies?

I did, so I decided to try to find out why. Sadly, it is primarily about the money. According to an article by Chris Chase in USA Today, Thursday's are the most popular night of television viewing and the networks covering the Olympics need to get the most bang for their buck. Because 12 new medal events were added to the competition schedule since 2010, scheduling is a challenge, so one more day of competition and coverage was added.

Image courtesy of College-Social.com

Traditionally the biggest draws for television audiences are the skating events and the networks did not want to compress the figure skating schedule. That would have put the women’s free skate, which takes place in two weeks on another night; not a good move for television ratings or sponsors. The women's free skate attracts thousands and thousands of fans and networks want the biggest night of skating to air on the biggest night of television.

While some consideration was given to allowing time between events for athletes to rest and for courses to be cleared for other events, the driving force behind the decision was money. As Chris Chase put it:

Scheduling and television are big reasons for the early start, but money is the thing that ties them all together. It’s the universal answer for sports queries like this. “Why did the NFL start playing games on Thursdays?” “Why do the NBA playoffs last longer than many celebrity marriages?” “Why is snowboard racing an Olympic event?” It all comes back to the green."

Sad. 

Now it's time for a joke. A lady went to a doctor’s office, and a few minutes into the examination, screeching could be heard from the exam room. Then the lady burst out of the room as if running for her life.

After much effort, a nurse finally managed to calm the woman down enough to find out what happened. The nurse then barged into the doctor's office and shouted at him, “Shame on you. Mrs. Smith is 82 years old, and you told her she’s pregnant?”

The Doctor continued writing on the chart and said, “Does she still have the hiccups?”

Image courtesy of Teluguone.com Comedy where there is another doctor joke.

 That's it for me today, folks. We are still having record cold temperatures here in Texas and it is cold in my office. My hands are freezing and it is very hard to type with gloves on. Have a great weekend. Stay warm. Stay safe. Be happy.