LISTS

BLOGGER NOTE - I went to Rome, NY, again this week, which some of you may remember was such a horribly boring place that it inspired me to start my blog this past fall. To commemorate this experience, I'm changin' up my blogging habits - FRIDAY is new blog day in Dayton, OH. Sundays are just bad news for me. Now, on to my blog, fully composed of lists.

LIST #1 - 6 Things I'm Thankful For (omitting the uber-obvious family / friends)

1. The US Government - "WHOA", you say, right??? The government is horrible and wastes money and doesn't get anything done, right? Well, yeah, that's sometimes true. BUT, our system is the no kidding real deal. We are inefficient because we have checks and balances (and because approximately 46% of civil servants are worthless), but we are incredibly stable even in this unprecedented economic downturn and still have the strongest military in the world. Next time you think it sucks here, ask Iceland (their government failed this year due to the economic problems). Or ask Zimbabwe (they suffer from hyper-inflation - a loaf of bread costs no kidding over a BILLION Zimbabwe dollars, and in the time it took me to type this the price probably doubled).
2. The internet - Its impact can hardly be overstated. Google it. (Fun fact - Google actually searches less than 10% of the internet. Holy IP addresses, batman!)
3. My career - I am probably part of the less than .01% of the population that is not concerned about losing their job, and is even thinking about a promotion. My job is solid, even if it pisses me off a fair amount of time. I really think I've noticed less whining about things at work because of the massive lay-offs and general job uncertainty in the population. And one consequence of my job is that I can PRACTICALLY transfer to anywhere in the country. I often wish I didn't live so far from home, and maybe sometime I will get a little closer.
4. The Human Psyche - I think that I've taken my math/science expertise as far as I care to (which isn't to say I'm some awesome expert. I've just lost the passion to proactively progress based on my own motivation.). But I am now much more intrigued by what motivates people, and how people make decisions, and other crap such as that. It's much more complicated than thermodynamic laws, cuz we (humans) still haven't really figured it out. If we ever knew how to predict human behavior we'd be done. Shut down the patent office!
5. Sports - Clearly I have spent an incredible amount of time honing my sports skills. Sports don't play a central role in my life anymore, but they are still a great way for me to relax and unwind. Watching Illinois basketball or Cardinals baseball is at the very least a great distraction from life stress. And I continue to play basketball, ominously awaiting the inevitable knee injury that will end that career. Volleyball has kind of turned into my high-action sport, because recreational basketball stinks (I'll complain about that in some other blog.) BUT, I'm also transitioning to 'old people' sports, like golf and bowling. Turns out these are a good time, and I think I can do them when I become fat from too many hours in front of the computer. Everybody wins! Well, everybody but my imaginary wife of the future. She'd better show her ass up quickly if she wants to make any bold requests like "don't get fat". That doesn't just not happen on its own.
   
6. Oliver - A dog? Seems trivial, but he's seriously one hell of a roommate.

This list is longer than I thought. I think I'll make 2 more (surprise) lists later in the weekend....