Changes in Lattitudes

there are always changes in life, at work they call it being "change agile", friends call it adaptability. No matter what you call it, change can be good ... scary sometimes, but good.  Unfortunately, most of us initially see only the downsides of change. The frustrations of the processes that had become habit are about to be disrupted and most certainly your daily functions are now going to take longer as you work the kinks out of the new system. In this stage of change it can be like a grieving process, what are the stages of grief? Denial ~ anger ~ depression ~ acceptance, or something like that.  No matter the type of change, whether it be a death, a career change, a dissolution of a relationship; you will move thru each stage of grief in succession hopefully not spending much time in any before settling into the acceptance phase. Thats where I am now.

Thanksgiving & Signs of Apocalpyse

As we sit to enjoy our meal and the friendships that we have made the last year and those that have endured for decades, one worry crosses my mind ... the Turks & the Russians.
This latest development in the Syrian civil war and the war on ISIS is very worrisome. It was inevitable that with multiple air forces operating in the same theater of war that there would be a mistake and someone would shoot down a "friendly". But that's not the way it happened. The Turks shooting down the Russian warplane was deliberate, a result of a violation of Turkish airspace.  This could bring troubling consequences as we know Mr Putin is not accustomed to being made to look like the weakerer party and will certainly retaliate in some way. Add to this the near accepted fact that Putin does not respect nor fear President Obama and we could have a problem. If Turkey is attacked and Article 5 of the NATO charter is enacted then we are obligated to enter the conflict vs. Russia. And therein lies the potential for World War III.

Steelers v Ravens 2015

Okay so I'm watching another classic battle between these two bitter rivals last night and I notice one big thing missing --- the physical war that usually takes place.  Gone were the big hits, the blind side sacks that leave one or both QB's crunched on the turf in a fetal position, basically gone were the Troy, Suggs, Taylor, Lewis, Harrison hit fests.  Now the game has devolved into which kicker can seal the deal with a 40-50 yard field goal.  I don't like this new variety.
I am not a football genius, I do not get paid big bucks to design or analyze plays but as I sat in my bonus room watching the game unfold I drew to quick conclusions that are being discussed all over sports radio today 1) how can you not put the ball in Bell's hands on the second of two 4th down conversion attempts and 2) why would you not realize you called a play originally designed for a RIGHT handed QB (Ben) on 4th and 2 but now you have the LEFT handed (Vick) QB trying to throw across his body ?  I thought this instantly last night and I am just a basic football fan, these guys Healey & Tomlin are at the highest level of their profession yet they both chose those options.

Steeler players did not deserve that loss.  The coaches earned that loss.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400791662

Steeler Football and Headset malfunctions

Folks are bashing the Steelers for complaining about the headset issues that occurred at Gillete the other night http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/us/pittsburgh-steelers-headset-issues/index.html  but reality is this -- it was only a 7 point victory for NE so if there were issues they very well could have been influential in the loss and not simply whining by the Steelers.
Personally, I believe that Belicheck does stuff like this not to cheat per se but to get into the heads of the opposing coaches.  If the other team is worried about "cheating" then they are not focused on the game and that is what he wants.
More important than the Patriots cheating was the Steelers lack of coverage on Gronkowski, a real head scratcher.