Happy New Year
Our New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day was pretty normal. We had a friend who was in from out of town to close on his house come by New Year’s Eve. He had dinner and left around 10:30 and Patti and I were actually able to stay up for the ball to drop. Asleep by 12:02 though. First, no matter what time we go to bed, the kids are getting up around 6:30, so sleep is more important. Second, I hate New Year’s Eve TV programming. Drunk quasi-celebrities shouting mindless blather while the cameras pan to shouting idiots crammed together on a street somewhere freezing their tails off waiting for some overdone contraption to indicate midnight has been reached. It’s stupid, but then again, I can proudly say I have spent a New Year’s Eve in Time Square during my younger years, so I guess let those idiots have fun. Anyway, I find the TV programs painful to watch and wheeling out Dick Clark this year was not only painful, it was embarrassing. Let the poor guy deal with his stroke with some dignity, did the show’s ratings really improve that much.
New Year’s Day was fun. We had brunch with a bunch of people and then had dinner with friends. Overall a busy day.
Now it is back to work, although in a new job. Kind of strange not doing what I have been doing for the past 8 years or so.
Hope 2006 is good for everyone. 2005 was not too great for us. While the kids stayed healthy, my own family went through a number of challenges. Patti’s side remained healthy which is good. The world around us kind of fell apart though. Quick recap…
- The war in Iraq is still a mess. Whether you agree with it or not, war is never a good thing. Let’s hope this year finds more stability over there.
- Michael Jackson had his molestation trial, showing that a child molesting freak can get off because people like his music. Mockery of our system.
- Not really in 2005, but the tsunami killed over 200,000 people, a staggering amount if you think about it. I followed a couple of online journals from people, like nurses and doctors, who went over on their own dime to help out. Devastation like we have never seen.
- The Supreme Court Justice died. Another stepped down and the democrats screwed things up by bashing Bush’s first choice. Not sure why he picked her though, he alienated his core constituency.
- Crazy weather from record breaking snowfall in the northeast to massive mudslides in California, to the awful hurricanes that hit the gulf region. End of days I say.
- Johnny Carson, the Pope, Johnny Cochran, Frank Purdue, James Stockdale, and Mr. Scott from Star Trek all died. And those are just the ones that I wrote about in my blog. The process to elect a new Pope was fascinating.
- Steroid use in baseball put a major speed bump on a sport that was making a huge run in popularity since the strike in 1994. To all those frauds out there that put up staggering numbers while on the juice, you should be ashamed of yourselves. But would we all have watched baseball as much if all those dingers were not hit? It’s kind of conflicting, isn’t it? We root for the big hits in football, the towering homeruns in baseball, then we condemn the gladiators who did what they had to do to sell the tickets. Ironic.
- They officially cancelled the NHL. The only difference in my life was that I didn’t have to skip over Bruins games while channeling surfing. Other than that, I barely noticed.
- Terry Schiavo was taken off her breathing tube in Florida.
- A crack addict degenerate child molester abducted and killed a 9 year old girl in Florida. For anyone who doesn’t believe in the death penalty, read the details of that case. In fact, death is too good of a punishment for that monster.
- We had fun with a runaway bride in Georgia. And the guy still wants to marry her?
- There were numerous false media reports, from Bush’s military record to our soldier’s treatment of the Koran. I can’t blame the liberal media for trying though, it’s their only weapon lately.
- We got to see Saddam Hussein in his underpants, always good for a laugh. I see London, I see France, I see Saddam’s under pants.
- Mary Kay LeTourneau got married, giving late night comedians, and one blogger, some good material.
- Natalee Holloway went, and is still, missing. Trust me, I grieve for her mother, but she might have gone a little too far with being on some TV show 23 hours a day. Just my opinion for what its worth.
- Patriots won their second consecutive Super Bowl, the White Sox won the World Series. I forgot who won the NBA championship because I could care less about the NBA.
- A criminal shot a judge and two others in a courthouse in Atlanta.
- The subway was bombed in London, making the threat even more real to NY City and other major US metro areas.
- And finally, the new Harry Potter book came out, allowing one middle aged writer who came from nothing to buy a platinum covered Rolls for the maid to drive while she takes care of the guest cottage on her 4th largest mansion.
Have a great 2006 everyone.