Say What?

So this past Monday I went to the Detroit Medical Center for a hearing test. I SAID I...the results weren't bad, but the ENT will call me in a day or two with more detail after he analyzes it.

My reward to me for being such a good boy at the doctor's office was a visit to the Chick-fil-A at Harper Hospital's food court. 

I love Chick-fil-A. Their chicken sandwiches are absolutely the best you can get. But their drive throughs, although generally ran very well, can be daunting. There tend to be long lines of cars. But in the DMC you just stand in line and they run you through pretty quickly. So there are advantages to aging and having to see more doctors more routinely, aren't there?

And of course, right after my all right hearing test, I had to ask the cashier to repeat herself. Not once, but twice even. I couldn't hear her very well.

Yes, there was background noise, which was part of why I wanted to get my ears checked. I've been having issues hearing folks in crowds. But there I was thinking that I wasn't hearing all that poorly and I can't hear what I'm being asked by someone three feet in front of me. Uh, irony?

 

Introverted Extrovert

I went over to the Detroit Medical Center yesterday for a hearing test.

A hearing test.

Hearing. Test.

I SAID I WENT TO THE MEDICAL CENTER FOR A HEARING TEST.

Okay, we're past that. Anyway, in the parking structure I passed a car with a license which read INTROVERT. And I thought, you can't be much of one with a vanity plate.

HEARING TEST. I WENT TO THE DETROIT MEDICAL CENTER FOR A HEARING TEST.

Stick to the Plan

I have every intention of making this coming week a great week. I will stay on task, working and writing and being productive. Pay attention to schedule, concentrate, and keep a laser focus: that's what I'll do. This is going to be a good, solid week where I accomplish all my...

Hey! It's that episode of Dragnet where they crack down on unethical tow truck drivers. That's a good one.

What was I saying?

Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds. No, not the cars. The TV show from the 1960s which used puppets, specifically something called Supermarionation, in the stories. 

As a kid I loved the show. It's a mix of science fiction and adventure clearly designed for rugrats like I was, well, in the middle 1960s. There were rockets and submarines and good guys and bad. I honestly recall drawing the spaceships back in the day, imagining myself one of the Thunderbirds, the flying wizards who were the heroes of the series.

A few weeks ago I discovered that repeats were being shown on MeTV Sunday mornings at 6. As we should never allow ourselves to outgrow good children's books or entertainment, I decided to watch.

Um, well, yes. What I said applies to the good stuff. Thunderbirds aren't the good stuff. They've clunky and cloying, indeed far too stereotypical in all sorts of manners, and the puppets simply look and move weird. I know they're puppets but these moved in a way which was downright bizarre. Eerie, even. It was disappointing.

I gave it a fair shot: I watched several shows over several weeks. But, alas, some things are probably better left to our childhood memories.

Gourmet Dog Food

Old Chief was a good dog, and I don't mean that as the lead in to a joke. He was a good dog, a beagle we had as the kids were growing up. His ear flaps were so large that when he stood still in a high wind they'd flap. I mean it. They were huge.

I had a dream about Chief last night. I was fixing him his 'favorite' (remember I was dreaming) meal, pork and beans. Pork and beans mixed with sour cream. He was super excited.

Me, now that I'm awake? I about half want to try it.

Universal Good and Bad

When some bad thing happens, its often asked why would a good God allow it? That's not an unfair question quite honestly, if you're actually trying to understand what's at work. But too many people who ask it mean for us to infer that the fact of evil in the universe must mean God isn't good.

Well, then, let's try something. Let's remove God from the equation. Let's say, only for the sake of argument, mind you, that He doesn't exist. What would we have? 

A Godless universe which also allows bad things to happen. Are you ready to infer that the universe is evil? 

My point is this. I believe that we've set ourselves up for failure when we say God can't be good if he won't stop evil when we would have evil in a universe left alone anyway. Perhaps the universe as the universe is only neutral; but if the issue is good and bad I can't see neutrality as anything except a benign evil at best. At worst, and I think this the most likely scenario, it would mean we could do anything we wanted for whatever reason we wanted. Or for no reason at all. That doesn't strike me as a moral positive.

So we can have a universe with a God and bad things happen, or a universe without God and bad things happen. I'll take the former. We might at least accomplish something good there.

The Evil That Men Do

I used to be one of 'them'. I would decry the appearance of anything, anything at all, before its proper time on the calendar. But I am no longer one of 'them'. I am my own man.

Yesterday in Wal-Mart I saw Keurig coffee pods. Not just any coffee pods, but flavored coffee. Pumpkin Spice flavor. I bought two 12 packs, anticipating autumn next month when I could properly sip on such a seasonal delight.

Then, today - no! I do not have to wait for fall to enjoy a fall flavor! I will not be made to drink a coffee I like according to another's arbitrary schedule. I bought it: it's mine! I will drink a hot cup of pumpkin spice coffee today. No one can tell me no!

One guess what I'm drinking as I hammer out this blog. I am liberated! I am mad with power!