Author: Jim Flanigan

Go For 20!

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Back when I started my career, I worked for a company that ran a “Go For 10!” promotion. They were a smaller company in their industry, and they wanted to push sales to get into the top 10. So, Go For 10! They failed. In fact, they may have fallen further down the ranks, and I was a part of it. Great story, right?

I’m running my own personal “Go For 20” promotion, but not to get into the top 20 of human beings. I don’t have a chance of getting there, especially when I publish a series of blog posts titled “Am I a Bad Guy?”

But I do have a chance to lose 20 pounds! I’m going for 20 pounds lost! By the end of August, I had officially lost 17 pounds of winter tubbiness and am currently trending toward 18 lost pounds of lard. How? COVID lead to underemployment which lead to less money which lead to me to walking and biking while contemplating my dilemma which lead me to notice things growing which lead me to eating those growing things. Here’s my harvest of European plums today …

They kind of look like sweet, juicy red seedless grapes. They’re not. NOT AT ALL. They taste nothing like grapes. They are edible but tart. I will eat them, but it’s not like there’s a chance I’m going to overeat. The real key to the weight loss has been in taking steps to better health, literally. Take a look at this pic.

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Uncivil Behavior

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

I fear that if Trump is re-elected, there will be a civil war in this country. For that reason, I have decided to carry a weapon. Ironically, I have taken Trump’s words to heart and will acquire the weapon he fears the most. No, not truth. Not Nancy Pelosi. Not guns. Listen for yourself …

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Free Food Top 10 List

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Being underemployed this COVID season caused me to look more to the Earth for food.

No, I didn’t eat actual earth, but ate from the Earth. I foraged a lot this summer. I’m not sure why. Sure, we saved a few bucks on food, but I think I enjoyed most the discovery of new foods to forage from the land.

As I made my Top 10 list of foraged foods, I realized just how many foods I have picked, eaten, and hated this year. I’ve left those off the list like dandelions. Did you know that you could eat the dandelion flower? Did you know that you may want to spit it right out?

Along with my failed foraging attempts, I also didn’t include apples. I did forage some, but I went too late. The one apple tree in the woods was already spent except for a few small, mealy, gross ones. I used the non-gross parts of the few apples I foraged in some smoothies. My fault, so I don’t want to disparage the apple for my tardiness.

Let’s get started on the list with #10 …

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Overcoming Adversity vs Giant Shit Show

~ Jim Flanigan

At the Democratic National Convention last week, Joe Biden pulled out the stuttering handicap he overcame for all to see. Apparently, he helps and mentors stutterers he meets in his travels. A young stuttering teen named Brayden spoke on Biden’s behalf at the convention. Here’s the first meeting between Biden & Brayden.

No, I’m not crying. I think I have something in my eye that must have punctured my eyeball and is causing it to ooze.

That’s all well and good, but what about Trump’s handicap? No, not the textbook narcissism. He overcame bone spurs. BONE SPURS! They sound very boney and spurry. But he overcame them so well, that he can now do this …

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Reflections

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

I’m not saying that I continue to feel the need for significant social distancing due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, but I still get nervous if I get too close to a mirror.

Slow Down

~ Jim Flanigan

I needed a break this morning. I have been cycling hard every morning to get in shape so I can deliver to my precinct via bike the Democratic voting guides once they get printed. Democratic leadership wanted to wait to print the guides until after Biden picked a VP. They really could have printed them months earlier. The ticket could have been Biden & ‘A Bit of Moss on the Side of a Tree in the Depths of a Forest’ and Democrats would still have voted for him. I do like the addition of Senator Kamala Harris as VP. Speaking of addition, I think Biden + Harris = 93. See what I did there?

Back to cycling, I felt I needed a day off. I decided to take a shorter, slower cycle to check on a blackberry patch that should have been just about spent. It was, although by slowing down I was able to spot a few stragglers that I picked for the freezer. It’s been a good berry-picking season.

I cycled a bit further and came upon a field of these beauties …

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~ Jim Flanigan

I was just wondering … when military personnel order tea, do they prefer cammomile tea?

Questioning Education & Conversation

~ Jim Flanigan

Over the weekend, I drove almost 300 miles on Saturday to help my middle daughter move into college for her 5th year, also known as her super senior year. I have so many questions, but will limit it to these 3:

  1. Will my middle daughter ever really use her second major and second minor she plans to earn in this 5th super senior year?
  2. At my advanced age, why do I have a youngest daughter that is still 6 years away from even starting college?
  3. From a parent’s perspective, there is nothing super about a second senior year. Okay, so that is more of a declarative statement than a question.

The second question is the one that really bothers me. It points to a total lack of planning and judgment on my part. I fear I can never trust myself again, not that I ever could before.

Anyway, after I returned home, I planned to regale my wife with stories of how I got over 38 miles per gallon on the way there, but 6 mpg less on the way home. Imagine the possibilities as to why that happened! Wind direction, speed maintained, route taken, etc. Then I realized just how sad that sounded, so I spared my wife that conversation and decided to blog about it instead. It seems even sadder in writing.

Interstellar Security

~ Jim Flanigan

We were the victims of petty vanadalism recently, so I bought a security camera.

Cam1

Pretty fancy, huh? I was surprised that it not only records video, but it can be used as a weapon.

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Social Distance Motel

~ Jim Flanigan

One week ago, I woke up in Missouri. I had needed to go to my warehouse there for business for a while, but COVID is running rampant there. The St. Louis Cardinals can’t even play baseball. Due to COVID, the Cardinals have played 5 games. FIVE. My hometown Chicago White Sox have already played 19. There’s a serious COVID problem in Missouri.

I didn’t want to stay in any Missouri hotel or motel. I had no plan to stop anywhere at all on the way to the warehouse. I made arrangements to stay in the warehouse overnight, despite that warehouse being the site of a suicide many years ago. Gulp.

They had prepared a nice second floor loft space for me.

G Stairs

Although I brought an air mattress, the bed they had ready was appreciated, sort of.

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The Big Chill

~ Jim Flanigan

I was happy to return home last night after a quick business trip involving driving 600+ miles and staying overnight in a place where someone hung themselves. More on that tomorrow. I was eager to jump into our little pool and cool off a bit. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Instead, I jumped onto our couch for some TV watching.

But this morning, oh, that was going to be a different story. I was up early and ready to swim. I love those cool late summer mornings when steam rises from warmer lakes, ponds, and pools.

pool steam

The air was a crisp 62F (16.7C) this morning, so I found it odd that I didn’t see that steam rising from our little pool. I wasn’t sure why … until I got in.

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