I’ve started to watch baseball. Never played it and can’t quite fathom all the rules yet but am enjoying the ups and downs of the Blue Jays. Wonder why so many balls are missed, but I guess trying to hit a round ball with a round bat is harder than it looks.
Baseball also allows you to see the players up close; clenching fists when the poor guy goes up to bat with two out and bases loaded. And you have to feel sorry for the pitcher when he gets the walk back to the dugout.
One thing I really appreciate is the camaraderie between opposing teams. Grim faced, facing a 100-mph missile yet smiling and chatting to the first baseman after a successful dash to the bag. And I marvel at the accuracy of throws – so splendidly captured on TV.
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I like variety in most things but get frustrated with the different makes of machines that certainly confuse me when trying to make a payment. I know which is the OK button but trying to decide on the sequence of others can be quite flummoxing.
And I wonder at the different house rules. When applying for my new driver’s license, I was met with a sign that read ‘No Tapping”.
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The British press is still making a meal of after-work drinks at 10 Downing Street.
Can’t help but think back to the tall cupboard in the editorial department at The Albertan newspaper. Open it and you would find it stacked with cases of beer.
Work is a lot different now, but I still enjoy my well-earned four o’clock beer.
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My irritating word of the month is ‘gotten’. “hey had gotten into a boat” sounds too American to me. The dictionary says it is the past participle of ‘get’ so I guess it’s a real word, but I don’t have to agree with the evolution of language.
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Walkers are allowed to amble along pathways, to walk side-by-side enjoying conversation. So, it can be a bit of a shock when an unexpected silent cyclist zooms by. What happened to the handlebar bell that warned one to keep to the side? A precaution to help avoid both parties ending up on their derrières.
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Couldn’t help but wonder about how different sports award their winners. Reading that Bryson DeChambeau had pocketed $4 million by winning a golf tournament had me feeling that chuckwagon riders are in the wrong sport.
Buying horses, feeding them, paying vet bills and transporting them and wagons to different rodeos must be a big hit on pockets. Yet to win the biggest and most famous prize in their world earns them $50,000 at the Calgary Stampede. And add danger and a muddy face, while someone even carried DeChambeau’s clubs for him.
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When companies like Telus decide to get rid of a large number of employees, you have to wonder who can be let go that hasn’t been filling a very necessary position. Surely not the human who eventually answers a phone call after long and frustrating on-holds.
Better the person who spends their learned time making up names for management. Used to be pretty simple, but pray tell me why a company needs someone to dream up a title – and job description – for a chief experience officer, chief content officer, growth, people, reputation or visionary officer.
Sounds a little top-heavy to me.
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Final Words: The curse of deafness is that you cannot hear the silence. ~Iris Murdoch