A Better Man

I tried to play poker online this morning but the site is down and they have a prompt that says they are "looking into it." I think that is code for the poker God is emptying the collection plates so they can begin racking more of our buy-ins later. I am pretty sure that all of the gods of the universe are gamblers so what is this about?

Yesterday was a great day. Fabio bought me a couple tickets to the Cubs - Cardinals game yesterday and then he traded shifts with someone at work so he could go with me. I sorta pushed him into seeing if he could go because: firstly, he bought the tickets for me and secondly, what is cooler that a father and son going to a ballgame together? I guess a father and son having a catch is cooler but we do that from time to time still too. I think Abner Doubleday must have invented baseball with either is dad or his son though I don't know if he even had kids. You know damn good and well I have to check this out now.

Wow, did I learn a lot about Abner Doubleday that I didn't know. He was a Major General with the Union Army during the Civil War and is credited with firing the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter. He also played a pivotal role at The Battle of Gettysburg. Who is this dude, Forest Gump? After the war he obtained the patent for the cable car line in San Francisco which are still there today. Anyway, supposedly, he invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York in a cow pasture but that is being questioned by scholars now. I went to Cooperstown quite a few years ago and now I may want my money back. I guess it was still cool seeing all of the baseball stuff and everything so I will stop my class-action suit. He did plenty for our country so even if he didn't invent baseball let's throw him that bone (at least, in part).

Richard Gere eating fries from the garbage

Yesterday, on the way into the parking lot to go the the Cubs-Cardinals game, there was a lady standing in the street between the two lanes entering the lot with a coffee can for money; I threw a couple of singles in her can (that's what she said). I have often put change in these cups or cans or whatever they use to collect their charities because they say they are: homeless or hungry or their kids don't have have clothes or whatever... I put a picture of the guy I gave money to on Thursday night on Facebook to help inspire others to do the same. The reason for my new-found insurgence of doing this and making sure that I have paper money (singles and fives mainly) in my pocket is because Cha Cha, as she has done for our entire relationship, is making me even a better person with the story she told me. She told me about something she had heard on NPR. Richard Gere was researching a role for a film called Time Out Of Mind where he portrays a homeless man trying to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter. Maybe she thought of me because of the "time out of mind" part? I cannot find where it is playing in my area yet but IFC (Independent Film Channel) has bought the rights to the movie and it should be released soon. Here is A CLIP - it does not look like a very up-lifting film but that's really my kind of movie. It's funny that I didn't even know it was called Time Out Of Mind until researching for this blog. Maybe that is why Cha Cha thought of me when she heard the story - the "out of mind" part.. Anyway, he talks about how, when he was researching and acting as a homeless man in New York, nobody looked home in the eyes as a homeless person. If they had they may have recognized him as Richard Gere. I think maybe people don't look at homeless people in the eyes because they feel guilty not helping fellow human beings in trouble. Anyway, now I always look them in the eyes and I give them paper money rather than coins (unless I am ill-prepared because of my debit card and I only have change). I make it a point to have singles and fives when in a big city now though.

Me and my new friend Willie at The Field Museum in Chicago 

I felt like I needed to blog today because I haven't for a couple of days. I will be able to blog tomorrow. Human Resources from my work called me Friday and said that they sent my "return to work" information with the doctor's medical limitations for me to my department and they have not heard back from them about a position to accommodate the doctor's orders. So, I should just wait to hear from them before going back to work. One bad thing I didn't think about for working days is that I will have to buy a parking pass. Can you believe they would make people buy parking passes for the honor to work? Working nights saved me that money but caused me my physical and mental health. Now, I am already falling-apart they are going to take more of my cash too. I would ride my bike but, when winter arrives, I will regret not driving. I suppose I will not put the cart before the horse (semi pun intended) and wait to see when and if I will go back soon.

Okay, I think Jill and I are headed to the store. We need bird seed - my charity never ends. Do you think Richard Gere feeds the birds? He probably does! At least I have him beat in the looks and the blog department. Have a great day and, as always, thank you for stopping in. Enjoy the weather and be nice to somebody today - even if it's just yourself. TTTT (since I won't be working just yet)... MITM (out) TA!