My Misplaced Sympathy for Joe Paterno

i want to say, what has been alledged is horrendous and if it is true (which it seems it is) Sandusky is a vile human being.

I have not read the 23 page grand jury report, I dont not need to hear the descriptions of what happened. But What i would like to know is what people knew...

Joe obviously knew something. McQueary told him something. What exactlyt was it?

People say, "He admitted he wished he had done more, he knew." I understand. Hindsight is 20/20. Have you ever years down the line put two and two together and realized, "oh, dang, how did I miss that before?" Everyone looks at it as if he was in the shower with Sandusky watching.

I always hope for the best and want to be full of grace. We live in a land where people are inoccent until proven guilty and yet everyone (outside of Penn State) wants Joe crucified. I dont have a problem with removing him as coach, figure this stuff out, PLEASE!

Again back to my optimistic outlook. Joe hears from a grad student something is amiss, he reports it to his superiors and some changes are made. Obviously not enough changes, but one might think, "Hey, the school looked into it, this is what they found, this is what they decided, okay, the situation is handled."
I know, very naive.

On the radio one personality said, "people around Sandusky knew, they always know." That isnt a fair statement. We all have secrets, dark parts of ourselves that we hide. People with sicknesses like the one Sandusky seems to have, usually work really hard at hiding it. There might be clues that people might see, but those people dont go around talking about thier sickness in their regular life.

I guess I hope for the best.

Sadly, we may never really know what happened and who really knew what and when.

Obviously McQueary didnt see enough of an issue to keep him from working with Joe...

My heart still breaks for the families. the lives that have been tainted and innocence lost.

politics schmolitics

I read a facebook note/post/comment whatever where a friend of mine said that he has not "voted for" someone in a a long time, rather he has "voted against" a candidate.

I loathe politics. Its bothersome and mostly leads to quarreling, which gets nowhere.

the idea of picking the lesser of two evils is so much fun. Now I understand many people out there really believe in their politics (party affiliation etc) and see it as useful. Me, not so much.

I recently posted about the OWS ordeal and I agree something needs to change. Here is the problem, things dont really change. why? Because people are still people. We are selfish, greedy, jealous and worse. Few people can endure the pressure AND power of leading.

The honest ones give up and the "great ones" are corrupted. The system wears on you. And we are all still human.

Would it be awesome to clean house and get rid of all the politicians in Washington? maybe. Are there people who can and would do a better job? probably? Would I vote for any of them? Possibly.

After my rousing encouragements, i dont understand why more decent people do not run for office... other than the money to afford it and the popularity to get them to the end.

I dont know what to do. i mean other than pray.

America was designed to keep any individual or group from holding all the power... now they just play games with the powers they hold and harm everyone else. Most politicians in Washington have more than me... but they need me. Well they only need me if there is someone willing to run against them....

meh... politics.

I am the _____ %

I see all the clever notes, for this side or that. I know which numbers I cannot relate to, yet at the same time I struggle relating to the "other" side.

Statistically, I am a part of the "larger" percent, you know the one with the smaller percentage of everything. Part of the reason I havent written this blog already is because I wanted to do some more research, but Life has kept me from that endeavor, So I will ask questions, you know the ones I wanted to research:
What percentage of the world...
Owns a home?
Owns two or more cars?
has a job that pays more than $100 a week?
Has more shoes than days of the week?
Has more shirts than days in a month?
Has a TV (this one was a gift, but i still have one, or three - all gifts)?
Has cable and internet in their home?

I went to a private college and graduated more than ten years ago and I am still paying off that debt. Of course my line of work doesnt typically pay yearly what I initially owed in college debt.

I think the system is jacked up! but since I have a job, which i need to have to keep all the other things I have, I dont have time to Occupy anywhere. My wife and family need me to work, and then they need me to spent time with them developing something very important, relationships.
Would I like more stuff? Would I like better stuff? If someone offered me more money to do what I do, would I take it? Duh! All of my cars are 10 years old and have major issues. The house I own, that due to a job loss, I do not actually live in, was built in the 40's. (which beats the house I owned befor that build in 1870 something) I dont have a smart phone, I recently ungraded to an unlimited texting plan. two years ago we purchased a computer for my wife, other than that, they are all hand me downs (freebies). In fact the computer we bought her was used.

Wall Street, the American goverment (not even its President), not even poverty can take my Family or my Faith from me. These things cannot strip me of the most valuable things in life, the relationship I have with the people most important to me and the relationship I have with God.

People using bailout money to give bonuses is totally screwed up... SERIOUSLY JACKED! Rich people getting richer, thats kind of life... Guess what, they cant take it with them.

Learn to be content with what you have, be smart with your money.

And most importantly Occupy the Homes of your Friends and Family, make a difference where it counts.

long time

Its been a long while since I have written. Would I have been more faithful if I was getting more reads and more comments? Maybe.

But life hits us right when we are trying to do something else.

I have thought over many blogs, and I regret that I have not written them down.

I have a great deal of people that I miss... this season in my life is strange. I am meeting lots of people but few of them live within a reasonable distance to hang out with.

Strange, isn't it when you meet someone you "just click" with. My wife and I spent a week at a training in a different part of the country and met several new people and hung out with some people we had met last year at a different training event.

On the last night of this years event, we played a little game, "greater than or less than." It is like the elementary school assignment when you determine which fraction is larger.... except with people.

For clarification it is not deciding which person has greater value or which has less. Rather, it is thinking about you would rather spend time with. And sure "would you rather" may have worked as a moniker, but it has an association with a less than pleasant game!

After talking through the couples and individuals at the event I thought about what mattered or should i say what was the qualifier for one person over another.

I determined it was about the energy required to be around that person. Some people are so easy to be around, its effortless. Other people, sometimes for no fault of their own, require just a little more energy. And then you have those people who are down right needy (and everyone else in between).

I would also like to point out that I do not believe any real relationship to be completely effortless. Relationship requires give and take, some relationships SEEM like there is less energy involved for the whole process.

last monday...

was obviously an annoying day.

About an hour or so after my post things got better. Which is good. I survived...

In other news:
People's sense of entitlement drives me nuts. I am a big nerd and have a few Nerf guns. And I was playing with neighborhood kids, with the Nerf guns, and I provided most of the guns and all of the darts. I dont mind doing that, its fun to be able have fun and spread the love. Come on, its better than the guns sitting in my closet.

But the kids that drove me the craziest were the ones that felt like they deserved whatever, in this case, gun, they wanted. The kids that made me happiest were those who were just happy to hang out and play. At one point we had 13 people playing... and I may be really nerdy but I dont have that many guns. So we used balled up socks just to give everyone a chance.

Back to the annoying ones. They were the first to grab at the weapons and the first to literally drop them. (when you were tagged you put the gun down, in case some sock wielding teammate had the chance to use it) its just amazing. But that is how some people are. They show up late and call "shotgun." (showing up late is selfish enough) They have to listen to the music they want to listen... when you are driving your car. You know the type, but it starts when they are younger... I hope my kids aren't like that.

SML

I opted for the "Screw My Life" instead of the common F word.

I plan to whine and complain, so if you dont want to read that, please go else where today (and tomorrow and whenever). That means I dont want lame cliche encouragement and that stuff either.

I hate living in an apartment, I know lots of people do it and in some ways i like it but today i am complaining.

I hate not having money.

I hate owning a house that is not worth what i owe for it.

I hate that I dont live in said house.

I hate that I have a mortgage AND pay rent.

I hate that I can't seem to find a renter who is willing to pay rent on time.

I hate that I can't pay my rent on time, because of the person who doesnt pay theirs.

I hate "faith building" session... I would much rather have things go well for a while, and by a while i mean longer than a month.

I hate fighting.

I hate that all of the drains in our apartment are slow, and even worse are the toilets that clog in conjunction with the slow drains.

I hate that one of our bathrooms smell, and because it flooded(again), it will smell worse or at least for longer.

I hate feeling like no matter how hard I work almost nothing on this list changes.

Just shoot me... please.

View from the Road....

When I was younger, I was introduced to the term "Twenty footer." It was basically that someone (in my case a female) was attactive from about twenty feet away. Now I know that is a very superficial thing to say, but it was funny. At least to us....

Of course the larger the distance listed the less attractive a person was (on the outside). But let's be honest, when we look at someone's life, the further we are away the "better" it looks. We aren't close enough to see the obvious blemishes.

Sometimes it is nice to keep the distance, you know, keep that vision of beauty that is in your head. The closer we are to people the more "real" they become. Their shortcomings and blemishes become more obvious.

I am not perfect and I am sure that people might think of me as a "twenty footer." They may even look at my life in the same light...

Consider this: What about the beauty you miss because of the distance? Think about the assumptions that you make from further away. Things arent always what they seem, for good or bad. Sometime, more often than not, we really miss out when we do not get closer to people. There is value added by the closeness...

I guess it is up to you... Are you satisfied with curb appeal? Or do you want to take a closer look, risk seeing some blemishes and take a chance to see some real beauty?

home... finally

I feel like i hadn't been home in a month. I got back sometime today, when now, technically yesterday. it was nice to see family for the holidays but it was a long time to be in other peoples lives, taking up their couches, beds and just plain space.

it gets old to feel like you are in the way, even if no body has said a word to that affect (effect?).

I did not accomplish all i set out to do, which is embarrassing considering the amount of "free" time I had. there were plenty of distractions, I don't have time to share all of them, but still.

The wife and I attended a conference that allowed a bit of time to relax. which was good. We spent a good deal of time talking about the future. We have some options that face us for the not so distant future. Did we come to any conclusions? yes and no. We figured out some things that we need to do in the immediate future that will hopefully help us determine the longer term future.

I also had plenty of time to think over the last few weeks. There were a few blogs that rolled around in my head, but since i talked so much with the little lady they probably wont make it on line. (lucky you)

my bed call, work in the am...