Down on Me

I must apologize. I know it's been months since I last made an entry here. Please understand that it's not because nothing's going on with me. It's just that I lost my job back at the end of April and, here at the end of July, I still don't have one. Naturally, I feel pretty lame about the whole thing. I have been trying and trying but nothing's going down in this burg right now.

To explain a little further, I also have a mild bipolar disorder and, as a result, I tend to "retreat" from the world at large when bad things happen to me. That's also why my posts tend to be a little "spotty" over time; it's a mood-swing thing.

Anyways, enough of my whining. I have hope that things will get better in the future, and I'm working towards that end.

Of late here, the major stories are the weather and of baseball. To wit: this is the rare time of the year when even Minnesota here gets hot. Very hot. Also very humid. The kind of weather that Florida has all the time. :) Many people here are uncomfortable with that, but, myself, I tend to revel. (I almost died from cold once - when my car suddenly decided to retire on a very cold and windy night before Xmas - so I have a pretty good excuse for my opinion.)
As far as baseball is concerned, yesterday the Twins tied the Chisox for 2nd place in the AL central division, both teams 1/2 game back from the Yankees for a wild-card spot. Myself, I don't think this team is at '91 or '87's level, but they've been pretty hot of late - especially in the dome. We'll see how it goes, and I'll try to keep you all posted. Go Twins!!!

Regarding other sports, the Vikings training camp opens today. Now, I could rant for hours about how I think that the Vikes made huge mistakes in getting rid of Moss and Culpepper, but I'm not going to in this post. What I will write is that the local buzz is if Brad Johnson, the starting QB, will stay healthy this season. He's no spring chicken & has had previous injuries. However, he is a cagey veteran, a good team leader, and has always made few mistakes. The buzzline also carries the opinion that, once again, the Vikings drafted pretty well. As far as I'm concerned, I think that there are too many question marks to be able to predict how they will do this season with any degree of accuracy. If they beat the Packers twice this season, I'll be happy. :) :) :) Go Vikes!!

I have a couple of web-orgs that I need to thank in here, because they, and their members, have been some of the only good things I've had going for me in these past trying months. The first and foremost is AOL's "Oldies Music" chatroom. I've always felt welcome there, no matter what my social condition is, and the music trivia and conversation helps me forget about my problems for awhile. I can't thank them enough for that. The other org is a blogsite known as "Ultraquiet No More" which ties a lot of submariners and ex-submariners together. As one who lived that kind of life for a while, I can tell you quite frankly that these guys are the best, no questions asked. Hat's off (and my sincere thanks) to the members of both orgs - you all are what's keeping me going right now. Oh - and you submarine guys, stay tuned to this blogsite, I have a few ideas kicking around in my head right now that you might be interested in.

And, a little bit on the wierd side: On Monday nite last, as I was heading into my fave chatroom, I discovered that it was full. Since it's no fun chatting by oneself, I figured I'd check another room kwik until "Oldies" had an opening. Well, in this new (for me) room there was a member there who claimed that he was Malcolm Young of AC/DC. Naturally, given the nature of the internet and chatrooms in general, I assumed he was a poser/imposter. After a little bit of back-and-forth Q&A, I changed my mind. After a few minutes of me being the only one in that chatroom who was taking him seriously, he IMed me, and we conversed for awhile like that. He wrote that the band is currently in LA cutting their new Bon Scott tribute album and was surveying fans to see if they should tour after the album is released. Naturally, I was encouraging him in this idea as they are one of my favorite bands. He seemed a very nice fellow & we had a good (albeit too short) conversation. I did write to him that I was a bit awed, and thanked him and his mates for their music. Now, of course, I could be wrong about him not being a poser, but, if he is the real deal, then that's the first time in my life that I've ever personally dealt with someone of his stature. I hope the album sells well and that they do tour and come here to Minnesota. Best of luck Malcolm, and thank you for the time you spent with me.

Well, I guess that I had a little bit more to blog than I first thought, but I think that about covers all the bases. Till next time. . . .