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Analysis of a Dream

I need your help faithful readers on a matter of utter importance. Every so often I have this recurring theme in a dream at night and I need someone to tell me what it’s all about. I’m not going to bore you with long diatribes of what I ate or watched on television the night before because that can change.

Obviously I’m not going to tell you the one about Jenny McCarthy but here was another one of my dreams from last night:

It’s a slightly overcast day and I seem to be driving in the city somewhere. The setting looks familiar to me. As if I’ve been here before. In my dream I am the owner of a brand new red Ford Mustang and park it in a parking lot outside of a hotel I appear to be staying at. Why I am alone at a hotel is beyond me. Maybe I’m on vacation or something. In any case, I get out of the car and go about my business walking around and checking out the surroundings which appear familiar to me. I make chit-chat with some of the people I encounter. What the topic is I can’t remember.

Everything is going great but at some point I start to realize that I should probably head out because I have to be somewhere in a few hours and don’t want to be late. And here’s where the problem sets in.

The beautiful red Mustang I drove in and parked all of a sudden is nowhere to be seen. I’m confident I am in the area where I parked it but it’s not there. I almost immediately start to second guess where I parked the car but reassure myself that this was indeed where I left it. There are miles of cars everywhere in the parking lot but my car is not there.

I start strolling the lot looking for my car and soon panic starts to set in because I suddenly realize I need to be somewhere and now I’m going to be late. I’m not even sure exactly what it is I need to get to. Home? Work? An airline flight? What ever it is, I just know I need to get there and time is running out.

In my dream I’m sophisticated enough to attempt to use my key fob to try to locate the car but without success. No beeping and flashing lights…the pretty red Mustang is gone. And I never once think the car was stolen or towed away. Nope, I place the blame for its disappearance squarely on myself. My feeling is that the car is there. I just do not know where it is. And the search goes on. And on. And on.

Needless to say I wake up from the dream with my head pounding and completely exhausted. I never found the car and have missed whatever it was I needed to get to.

So can any of you psychologists, mediums and dream readers please interpret this dream for me?

Here are two pieces of information that may help with your analysis:

1. The Ford Mustang is my favorite car. Although if given the option I’d much prefer blue over the red but I did own a red convertible at one point.

2. I have no vacation planned at this time and no hotel reservations have been made. There is no sense of urgency on my part.

What’s strange is that the theme of me having something and then misplacing it seems to recur quite a bit in my evening slumber. It literally feels like I spend hours searching for something that deep down I know I’ll never find.

Looking forward to hearing your comments. Until then, it’s two Advil and more coffee. It’s going to be a long day.

Sports, Thought and Opinion

Penn State: The Conspiracy of Silence

Shhh! Don’t make a sound. We can’t let this get out. It needs to be kept very quiet.

From 1998-2011 that’s pretty much what it was like on the campus of Penn State University. That was the time frame that the allegations of child molestation against a long time assistant coach and heir apparent to the legendary Joe Paterno remained concealed.

Jerry Sandusky now faces a total of 460 years in prison if the alleged offenses are proven true and deserving every single one of them. But I wonder, how many years would have been taken off his sentence if his conduct would have been stopped when they were first observed instead of being allowed to continue under a shroud of silence?

Shhhh.

Considering that the education they peddle at a college institution is to better prepare individuals to be more well-rounded human beings it’s ironic that when these horrific acts first came to light the  Penn State University brass decided putting brand first was more important than human life.

Shhhh.

When Joe Paterno was alerted of the alleged abuses he decided to tell his athletic director instead of the authorities. Washing his hands of the situation and looking the other way is appalling considering JoePa IS Penn State. Had he done the right thing sure, there’d still be a scandal but he would now be the HERO instead of being disgraced.

But Joe’s from a time when there was no Internet, no Facebook or Twitter and no 24/7 tabloid media. Things like this happening in his day were simply brushed under the rug and never spoken about again. If a human life had to be collateral damage for the good of the brand well then so be it.

Fact is, Joe KNEW what was going on and did only what he was “legally” required to do. I guess we’re lucky he at least went that far. So from a legal standpoint he may have succeeded but as a human being he’s failed miserably. Even he himself admits that in hindsight he should have done more.

Coincidentally, when now former university president Graham Spanier, who also had to have known about Sandusky’s indiscretions chose brand over boy he forfeited his human being membership card too.

But what’s most appalling of all is when then graduate assistant and now assistant coach Mike McQueary actually walked in and noticed Sandusky in the act of molesting a ten-year old boy and did nothing but tell Joe Paterno instead of the authorities essentially keeping it quiet. Why this man didn’t first stop the abuse he witnessed and alert authorities is beyond me. And why he is still an employee of Penn State is even more of a travesty.

How can this man even look himself in the mirror? How many times has he walked past that shower room and not thought about what happened there?

Worse still: How many times did he tell himself over the years to keep quiet?

Shhhh.

Sports, Thought and Opinion

The House That JoePa Built

Penn State University: The House That JoePa built. A man who spent the last 61 years of his life at the famed college, 46 of which as the head coach of the football team. The legacy he created there with all the notoriety and championships lost in a single night when the university’s board of trustees fired him over allegations he failed to do more when assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was molesting young boys on campus over a period of years.

It will be the first time in more than half a century that Joe Paterno won’t be included in the final Penn State home football game of the season this Saturday.

You don’t need to be a genius to know that for most of his tenure, JoePa was seen as the anointed ruler of Penn State and for him to not have done more when hearing about sexual molestation of a child being done under his watch is unconscionable. But what’s even worse has been the reaction of fans and some of the student body: putting football, of all things, ahead of children who’ve been victimized.

Attention students and fans: children were RAPED on your college campus!

It’s hard to imagine that Joe didn’t know what was going on under his nose. When Austin Scott, a promising running back recruited from my home town, was unjustly accused of raping a woman, Paterno and company were quick to lay judgement on him and kick him off the team. Although he was eventually vindicated, his tenure at the university and any possible chance of a career in the NFL was ruined. Joe and the school pounced on that incident without knowing all the facts but then some how took a blind eye to a horrific incident involving an assistant coach?

Once the announcement of Paterno’s immediate firing was made public, students were seen railing in the streets and tipping over a news van. Police needed to be called in to pepper spray them in an attempt to restore order. A scene we might have seen during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. And why? Not because a black woman had to sit at the back of the bus or couldn’t drink from a “White’s Only” fountain. No, the students were raising hell because a football coach got fired.

You can talk about tradition and JoePa’s legacy all you want. I’ve even heard people calling it an outrage at how the Trustees fired him over the phone. “What about the 40 some years he coached?” they would scream. “Surely there’s something to be said for loyalty right?”

Wrong.

My mother worked for the same hospital for forty years. Pretty much gave her life to that place. Then a few days ago while at work she was called and told that her position was eliminated effective immediately. No reason given at all. She was just let go. But I think no reason at all (it’s just business) is still better than why Joe was let go.

You know, I was once a student of Penn State (albeit only for one semester) and never got the chance to experience the whole “University Park” and football Saturday experience. But I tend to think that even if I did I’d still be one of the ones calling for Paterno’s ouster. How people can look past what was done there just because it’s football season is as much of a tragedy as what actually happened there.

So what can Paterno do now? How about using his king-like powers for the final time and telling his subjects that the University did the right thing for the school and end the senseless protests. Stop making the University and America for that matter look bad.

In the end Sandusky will get what he deserves, any evidence of a cover-up will come to light and the University will find another coach to carry on the tradition. I’m sure at some point down the road there will also be a Joe Paterno tribute day to celebrate being the all time winningest coach in Division 1 football.

But before you put on your PSU jersey and start chanting “WE ARE” for the final home game this Saturday, ask yourself one question:

If someone came to you distraught and told you that an old man was sodomizing young boys in your house – what would you do?

Guest Post, Stories and Writing Prompts

Guest Post: Why I Admire My Mom

My daughter Jillian, a ten year old aspiring writer herself, penned today’s post. Enjoy!

“Sweetheart, breakfast  is ready!” Mom would call from downstairs. “Be there in a second!” I would say. My mom is a great cook that’s why I admire her! My magnificent mom is lovable, glamorous, and helps me tell the truth!

My snugly bunny is very lovable! If I’m ever scared or sad she’ll snuggle with me and of course that makes me feel better! If were ever watching a scary movie, I’ll hide in her arms or under the blanket  and she’ll say “Why are you so scared?” I’ll try to tell her the reason and she’ll snuggle! She will always say sorry. Sometimes my mother and I play tickle monster/ fight. If she accidentally hurt me she’ll feel really bad and say sorry, I would never say I didn’t forgive her.

My mom is nice to everyone she meets, if somebody needs help she’ll offer to, once a person lost their dog by it running up the street. My mom saw the dog while she was driving and she slammed on the breaks and got the dog, put it in the car and drove away to its owner. The owner was so happy that my mom caught the dog! My mom was so proud!

Cameras the lights THE fashion! My mom is glamorous, she is like America’s Next Top Model, and she always matches! OH NO there’s green and brown, that doesn’t match, black and green (The perfect match) “Black goes with everything!” she says! When me and my mom are in a hurry or late for the bus, she always makes things match. Once it was 7:05 and she still needed to take a shower. She got a shower, dried her hair, put her make up on, and made the most nicest outfit. It was a nice pretty pink flower shirt with white Capri jeans and some nice sandals! My mom always picks the best style…EVERYDAY! She always has something to touch it up! I love her sense of style.

My mom influences me to stand strong settle arguments and be strong willed! One day when me and my mom went to the park, a bully came up and said “Hey give me your snack!” I ignored him and walked away!  Sometimes when somebody is being mean to me or my friend I’ll stand strong stick up for my friend and I will kill the bully with niceness. That’s what my mom told me to do. She settles my arguments.

“Well Mommy has to go to work now. Time to get in your pen”, she would say.  I put on my best sad face and walk in.  Sure I’m sad but I’ll see her when she comes home. I may live a dogs life, but I still admire my mom.

Sports, Thought and Opinion

NFL Reporters – Stop Playing Favorites

I am a die-hard Seattle Seahawks fan. So much so that this year I flew out to Seattle on a Friday, watched them play (and subsequently lose to the Atlanta Falcons) and fly back.

Sadly, they are now 2-6 halfway through the season with pretty much zero chance of reaching the playoffs. I’ll be the first to admit to you that they stink. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to know that a team playing with that kind of win/loss record is not Super Bowl caliber. Unfortunately though, I’ve been noticing a trend a late with some sports reporters who don’t seem to feel the same way when it comes to other teams around the league. It was tolerable years ago but has since gotten much worse.

Want to know if bias exists in the news media? Look no further than the so-called “reporters” of major news organizations on the NFL where only one simple rule seems to exist:

The Dallas Cowboys are good no matter how bad they are playing or what their record indicates.

Here is a team that gets so much media attention because they are called “America’s Team”, a quote coined in 1978 by an NFL Films editor. The fact is, the Cowboys could lose every game one year and be the laughing stock of the entire league but still find itself having three prime time games the following year along with a Thanksgiving Day game at home. What’s wrong with this picture?

I watched my Seahawks play the Cowboys this past weekend. The game was tied at halftime 6-6. Both teams equally bad but all the announcers seemed to keep focusing on was the Cowboys. What they needed to do, how they should make adjustments, the great play of their running back. Quite hardly a peep about the “other” team.  Sure enough, when the Cowboys managed to win the game the announcers seemed to have already punched the golden ticket to the Super Bowl for them.

But what’s even more appalling than the Cowboys of late is the media circus surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is a team who brought in a bunch of talent in recent years to a bruhaha of attention. Visions of championships filled every news article about them. A rehabilitated quarterback (himself a convicted felon) was going to lead them to the promised land. That was until they started losing.

The team with the Super Bowl or bust mentality had lost four games in a row and reporters, rightfully so, lambasted them on their horrific playing. Some even calling for the coach to be fired. Then the Eagles man handled the Dallas Cowboys last week, brought their record to 3-5  and now suddenly the past four losses were instantly forgiven by this same press in favor of one game where they put it all together.

I took a quick peek at who CNN considers it’s “Fine Fifteen”.  The top 15 teams it considers to be the best out of 32. They ranked the Eagles (with a LOSING record) at #11. Ahead of teams having much better years (and better records) than they do.

Last night, the team with the losing record played in prime time against the Chicago Bears (with a winning record) and looked as bad as ever. Of course, the Bears were ranked worse than the Eagles on the “Fine Fifteen” list. Go figure.

You could call it sour grapes on my part because my team isn’t even on the radar and that’s ok if you feel that way.

The truth is I’m just tired of seeing the SAME teams getting all the attention no matter what.

Childhood Memories, Thought and Opinion

The Economy Hits Home

If you don’t mind I’d like to opine a little bit on the current state of the economy and how we all need to be wary of it.

From pretty much the day I was born my mother has worked at a local non-profit hospital. She started out in 1971 part-time in the registration department and then worked her way up (if that’s what you want to call it) to become a “Senior” clerk in central registration making the exorbitant amount of $15 an hour. Her primary job was to register patients for surgery and deal with health insurance companies.

Over the years she’s worked every shift. Missing out on many activities of myself and my siblings while working the 3-11 one. Imagine being a parent and for five days out of the week the only time you see your kids is in the morning before sending them off to school. That’s what she did for years. To this day I still remember the telephone number we used to call her. It’s ingrained in my head from calling it so much to tell her how school went.

Ironically in 1990 I got my first  real job at that same hospital with her help. By that point she had already been there for almost twenty years. For me, my job was literally being the trash man on the second shift. If there was garbage in that hospital I hauled it away and put it in the dumpster. It didn’t take long for me to work my way “up” and eventually out of hospital garbage and into computers.

But this post is about the economy so now let’s get to the meat of it.

About ten years ago the ownership of the hospital changed hands. It could no longer survive in its current form and went from being a not for profit hospital to one whose sole purpose was to get paid. I remember Mom telling me many times how she didn’t like the demands that were being placed upon her. Having to demand money from people coming in before any surgery, no matter how life threatening. Reluctantly she did it anyway out of fear of losing her position.

Recently I began to get frustrated when I would ask her to come to some activities (my daughter’s softball games, dinner for example) when she would always tell me she had to go into work. Many times this was over the weekend because there was so much work to do and the hospital had no problems with having employees work extra. It was busy.

By now I think you might know where this is going.

Today she called me and told me that yesterday she, along a few other long time employees, had been called into the office and one at a time were told their position had been eliminated effective immediately. No reason like bad performance or excessive tardiness (things she never did). They were simply told to go back to their desks, clean them out and leave.

Forty years as the model employee making a paulty salary let go. Forty years.

She will recieve a small severance package but how long is that supposed to hold up in an economy like this? She is 65 now and may be eligible for social security and her pension but now the huge cost of health care (something  that was provided by the hospital) is now gone. With the cost of COBRA insurance being $600 a month my guess is that she is going to bypass getting anything to supplement in the event she gets sick. God forbid if something happens to her.

On a side note my Mom, who is an active subscriber of this blog, will now have to find a different way to get them. They were always sent to her work email address.

The moral of this story is that no matter how well off you think you are or how comfortable you may be with your job, the rug can be pulled out from under you without warning at any moment.

Just ask my Mom.

Thought and Opinion

Today’s Headlines – Nov 3, 2011

I always love reading the top headlines from various news websites. There’s always some which have some sort of relevance as to what’s going on in the world. Things we should probably be paying attention to. But then there’s also the ones that leave you sort of scratching your head. They’re also a nice break from the monotonous 24/7 news cycle of Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan.

So today, I’ve decided to present some “Top News” headlines to you as they appear at this very moment and give you some quick thoughts.

Foxnews.com

Top Stories:

US Explores Faster Afghan Handover; White House Considered Bailout of Solyndra; Port Shutdown Indefinitely After “Occupy” Protests

All valid headlines I suppose. Ones with the buzzwords that keep in the theme of a right leaning agenda with a democratic president. In a nutshell they are:

1. Handover = Surrender

2. Bailout = Socialism

3. Occupy = Hippy Bums

Then throw in this fourth little diddy “Vet Gets Eviction Notice After Hanging US Flag”.  An outrage? Perhaps. I was prepared to read it to find out until I read the sub headline for another story underneath it:

Veteran Says She Was Forced to Sit in Urine After Flight

Since I didn’t want to just read the “right” leaning agenda and appear to be biased, I moved a bit over to the “left” and was even more surprised at what I discovered.

CNN.COM

Headlines:

Sandwich Lands Mom In Jail:  All I wanna know is, what kind of sandwich was it and more importantly, where can I get one?

Taped Whipping Enrages Dr. Drew: I don’t know about you but anything that enrages Dr. Drew pisses me off too.

Mexicans Enter US Through Gas Lines: So THAT’S how those little buggers are getting in here. Who’da thunk it? Next time I’m filling up at WaWa I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open.

Meat Lovers Get  A Vending Machine: I already thought we had those. I could have sworn I saw Slim Jim’s in the one here at work.

Happy Thursday!

1980's, Music, Thought and Opinion

Kimball-Jamison: A Melodic Rock Masterpiece

I  still remember it like it was yesterday. I was a teenage boy in 1984 perusing the twenty or so television channels and stumbled upon the then fledgling MTV. That’s when I first saw the video for “I Can’t Hold Back”. It was the first single from Survivor’s Vital Signs album and the first time I ever heard Jimi Jamison, a man I proclaim has the best voice in rock.

I begged my parents to buy me that record. The very first one I ever purchased. One I subsequently wore out and to this day now adorns a spot prominently on my office wall.

I’ve been an avid follower of Jimi’s career ever since. From Survivor to Baywatch to Empires and pretty much everything in between. Every song bringing me back to those carefree days of youth. I still remember walking to class on my college campus blasting “Desperate Dreams” and “Didn’t Know It Was Love” from Survivor’s “Too Hot To Sleep” album on my Sony Walkman, a brick compared to what’s available these days.

Similarly, Bobby Kimball’s vocals abound all over my youth. From Toto’s biggest hits including “Hold The Line” and “Rosanna”, his vocals also hold a special place in my own personal musical journey.

Combine these two forces together and you get Kimball-Jamison, a Mat Sinner produced album featuring twelve new tracks from two of the greatest vocalists in rock.

From the soaring vocals and guitars of the intro Worth Fighting For to the angelic sound of Your Photograph, this CD has everything the melodic rock fan could want.

“It’s my heart you’re breaking. It’s my soul you tear apart.” Worth Fighting For

I have to say that there’s really something special when you listen to this record. Something that I’ve found to have previously been lacking in music that’s synthetically released to the masses these days: great songwriting and musicianship. In a world where the robot voice and auto-tune has become the norm it’s refreshing to hear true vocalists do what they do best: sing great songs.

Any fan of  70’s and 80’s bands can appreciate the influences on this record. Forget Kevin Bacon. Within one degree of Kimball-Jamison you get contributions from: Ides of March, Survivor, Toto, Mister-Mister, Cobra, The Baby’s, Bad English and more.

“We won’t get far pretending in this house of cards.”
“Can’t Wait For Love

Included with the CD is a DVD containing a thirty minute “making of” documentary as well as video clips for the songs Worth Fighting For and Can’t Wait For Love.

You may not find me trolling college campuses these days but this album will surely find a place on my i-Pod. And if you’re a fan of melodic rock like I am, I suggest it be on yours as well.

Track Listing:

· Worth Fighting For
· Can’t Wait For Love
· Sail Away
· Chasing Euphoria
· Find Another Way
· Get Back In The Game
· I Did Everything Wrong
· Shadows Of Love
· Hearts Beat Again
· We Gotta Believe
· Kicking And Screaming
· Your Photograph

Musicians:

Lead & Background Vocals: Bobby Kimball & Jimi Jamison
Guitars: Alex Beyrodt
Bass Guitar: Mat Sinner
Keyboards: Jimmy Kresic
Drums & Percussion: Martin Schmidt

Thought and Opinion

When October Goes

I’ve always liked this lyric and wanted to share. Living in the Northeast this past weekend it really seems to fit:

When October Goes

And when October goes
The snow begins to fly
Above the smokey roofs
I watch the planes go by

The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky
Oh, for the fun of them
When I was one of them
And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go
I should be over it now I know
It doesn’t matter much
How old I grow
I hate to see October go

Thought and Opinion

Here We Go Again

Here we go again. Time for the media to start fear mongering about the weather again.

I can see how it must get pretty boring during the warm months here in the Northeast. I mean, how much fun is it to talk about a sunny day or a passing thunderstorm for months and months? These meteorologists long for cold winter days and big nor’easter storms so they can talk about the same things over and over again ad nauseam.  Some of them even for go sleep and stay up for days to keep reporting on accumulations.

I’m sure they all got their jollies though a few months ago when Hurricane Irene churned up the coast. A storm that by all accounts would lay waste to New York City. They all took comfort in having had days and days to warn everyone to start stocking up on gold for the end of the world and directing everyone to the local grocery for milk, bread and eggs before the apocalypse.

I can just see all the local weather people gathering in their offices when the storm passed and the sun started to peek out. High-fiving each other and saying “Good Job!”.

But that was a ‘one-off’. A nice chance to issue a dire warning while waiting anxiously for Winter.

Then they received an early Christmas present. Mother Nature, in her wisdom, decided to throw a curve ball and play a little “trick” this Halloween by dropping some snow. And the media ran with it. I think the headline says it all:

“Scary Weather? High elevations may get 4-6 inches of snow, most of Valley to see much less.”

So here we go again. And this time they get to use Scary to coincide with Halloween for more dramatic effect. A Nostradamic prediction of doom from the local newspaper for an out of the ordinary “Halloween” snow storm in the Northeast. A storm that might drop 4-6″ of snow in the highest elevations? FOUR to SIX INCHES?? You’ve got to be kidding. Have these people reporting this event even lived here long? EVERY storm in the winter is 4-6″.

So let me see if I’ve got this straight. It “may” snow as much as 4-6 inches in the highest elevations (meaning the mountain areas where no one lives). The rest of us will probably see less. That qualifies as “scary”?  Hardly. The only thing scary is that we have to wait six months until we are out of the woods and the warm weather is back.

Now I’m no meteorologist but I did have a life science course in ninth grade. Armed with that knowledge and my reading ability since the age of four I did a quick scan of the extended weather forecast and drew the following conclusion:

Temperatures are said to be somewhere in the mid 50’s the days following the “storm to end all storms”.  One of the first things we learned in class was that a temperature that high is more than enough to melt snow. Especially light accumulations.

I’ve determined that any snow we get this weekend will be gone by Monday. Yet the media is warning us to have shovels and snow blowers on alert.

I can already see it’s going to be a long, cold winter.