Wait. I'm talking about the holidays. Didja think I meant sumthin' else? Like this, mebbe?
That said, I really AM glad the holidays are over. I hardly ever go into full-blown Humbug! mode, not bein' the type who enjoys pissing in other people's corn flakes. The holidays are difficult for me and I'm really quite glad they're over.
Speakin' of over... there's this:
Sequester Reprieve: The Defense Department got a reprieve from having to absorb steep spending cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year with the House's vote late Tuesday night US East Coast time to delay budget sequestration from kicking in by two months. By a vote of 257 to 167, House lawmakers voted in favor of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which among its provisions puts off sequestration until March 1 and gives Congress more time to try to work out a solution to the nation's deficit problem. Sequestration was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 2. The House vote, which cleared the legislation for President Obama's desk and his signature, came after the Senate passed the bill by a 89-8 vote early on Jan. 1. To enable the two-month postponement of sequestration, the legislation provides $24 billion in savings, equally spread across defense and non-defense accounts, achieved through an equal amount of spending cuts and revenue increases, according to the White House's fact sheet on the legislation. "This will give Congress time to work on a balanced plan to end the sequester permanently," states the fact sheet. "Revenues have to be part of the equation in turning off the sequester . . . as well as spending cuts," said President Obama in remarks on Dec. 31. (See also Obama remarks following House vote and HASC Chairman McKeon's statement.)The Fat Lady really hasn't sung yet... we still have two more months of endless wrangling and more failure to act in this Kabuki play and the threat of sequestration still looms large. But at least the tax increase has been averted for most people. Small favors, and all that.
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That said, I really AM glad the holidays are over. I hardly ever go into full-blown Humbug! mode, not bein' the type who enjoys pissing in other people's corn flakes. The holidays are difficult for me and I'm really quite glad they're over.
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Speakin' of over... there's this:
(U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Alexxis Pons Abasca) Full Nest: Last month, for the first time since late 2001, the 16th Special Operations Squadron had all of its airmen and AC-130H gunships home from combat, according to unit officials. The squadron's last deployed AC-130H touched down at Cannon AFB, N.M., on Dec. 20, marking the first time since after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 that all of the unit's assets were stateside, according to a Dec. 21 base release. "Standing here watching everyone come home as the squadron's commander is an inspiring moment," said Lt. Col. James Mott, 16th SOS boss. "This will be a really nice break for our troops," he added. The squadron transferred from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to Cannon in 2009 when it switched to the 27th Special Operations Wing from the 1st SOW. Despite that move, the squadron never missed a deployment, states the release. (Cannon report by SrA. Alexxis Pons Abascal)
I THOUGHT sumthin' was up when I made my commissary/beer run out to Cannon a few days ago. The reason I thought that? I counted 21 Herks on the flight line that day, which is the most I've ever seen (yes, I always count the tails whenever I go out to the base. Always.). I'm bettin' those troops were glad that was over... for a while, anyhoo... there's nothing like being home for the holidays. I can say that with authority, even if I'm more on the Humbug side of things these days. That wasn't always so.
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My internal clock is seriously messed up. I know today is Wednesday, but my mind tells me it's Sunday after yesterday's all-day football orgy. The bowl games have been pretty good this year for the most part, at least the ones I've watched. There have been some blow-outs and some disappointments but those were overcome by the wonderfulness of the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Rose Bowl. The outcomes of both those games were in doubt, right up to the final seconds. That said, I still HATE the Advertising Bowl phenomenon. We shall not flog dead draft animals... what's done is done. Ain't that America.
I think, for the first time since 1963, I didn't watch a football game on New Years Day.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, Skip, because I didn't watch any football yesterday, either. In fact, out of all the bowl games to date, I only watched the Buffalo Wild Wings thingy ('cuz my Spartans were in it), and the Little Caesar's Pizza thingy ('cuz Central Michigan was in it, and the son of good friends of ours plays for them). It's really weird - I really don't give a rat's ass about any of the others. Perhaps that let's-pretend-it's-a-legitimate-championship game might interest me a smidgen, but good grief, I've gotta work the next day. . .
Delete@Skip: You had much better things to do.
Delete@Craig: Ummm... it IS a championship game. ;-)
Well, now, you done went and slid right past that word 'legitimate', dintcha? I'm not takin' a dig at yer Irish (I mean, God bless 'em, they won their way to get there, whether I loathe 'em or not), just at the pretensions of the BCS. . .
DeleteYou're right, I did slide right by. Thanks for pointing that out.
DeleteOh, yeah... and I knew what you meant because that other shit won't be over until the folks in Washington learn why they are there.
ReplyDeleteThe question that remains is who is going to teach them?
Oh, the Universe will teach them (or, more likely, their children and grandchildren) in the fullness of time; you can't keep spending money you ain't got forever. . .
Delete@Skip: We have the best Congress money can buy.
Delete@Craig: It'll be too late for us by the time they learn. If ever.
TOTALLY agree w. you on the "Advertising Bowl" bit, Buck. What a way to crassly ruin a good tradition of using names that at least had a historic relationship to the area the bowl was played in. (Hell, I even wish they'd bring back the Copper Bowl --I could envisage a helluva good-looking art-deco trophy) But DON'T TALK TO ME about this year's Peach Bowl....EVER. And that's JUST NOT a request, either. GOD....
ReplyDeleteAnd the Humbug bit? Hell, nothing better as an excuse to get deeply and well into the cups with one's favorite beverage and sounds of choice as feeling "I got the blues for Christmas" sorry for oneself! GREAT reason for indulging in booze and self-pity! Some of the best New Years Eve's I ever spent were my first three as an LSU college student home alone in Illinois for vacation with my parents gone to their friends home to ring in the NY and with me alone with my sounds and serious drink. Would put on teh Byrd/Getz Album Jazz Samba and the mood would be set and my mind would take flight..
Heh. You and Andy. Tiggers to the Bitter End. That was a GREAT game, though. How can you find fault with a game that has a one-point win in the final two seconds? I might could understand your POV, depending on how things shake out next Monday night. ;-)
DeleteAs for the self-pity party mode... been there, done it too much. It can be fun... up to the point you realize that nothing much is EVER gonna change, at which time it gets SERIOUSLY depressing. So we try not to do that any longer.
Lemme see here. I kinda sorta watched Michigan v South Carolina (in the "Which Bowl Was That?" Bowl - I seriously paid no never mind to the name of that bowl game). Due no doubt to the familial connection with Michigan. The WSO and I were swapping text messages throughout the game, she being in California, me being in New Hampshire AND Vermont on New Year's Day. The Missus, my Mum and I stayed pretty mobile on the First. Spending no small amount of time at the Elks Club with friends, watching the bowl game as it played out on the TV behind the bar. The outcome, from my point of view, sucked. But as the WSO and I both admitted, it was a damn good football game.
ReplyDeleteI did watch the Rose Bowl for the tradition which is in it. I thought that was a helluva good game.
The only college game I am looking forward to is Notre Dame v Alabama. I may actually pay the "not much sleep" card on my first day at work in 2013. Depends on how good the game is as I have no personal stake in the outcome. But truth be told, I'm pulling for the Irish. (It's the Celt in me doncha know?)
We share some of the same football allegiances, as you know. Big Blue sure has fallen on hard times, of late, and more's the pity. I'm thinkin' The Big Ten otta re-name themselves as The Mediocre Ten or The Lesser Ten... coz that's pretty much what they ARE.
DeleteI'm looking forward to THE game next Monday but I'll also tune in to Oregon - K-State tomorrow. That game has potential.
The issue with the Big Ten is they've allowed themselves to become too big and they forgot how many ten is
DeleteGod is punishing them
@Ivan: But the Big 12 was already taken, right? ;-)
DeleteHardly matters, now that there's 14 of 'em, eh?. An' if they're lettin' Rutgers and Maryland in, the 'Big' part could justly be called into question, too. . .
DeleteI have to admit I haven't been counting. I HAVE noticed the lame names of the divisions, though. And the scheduling anomalies.
DeleteYeah, those division names are embarrassing. 'Cuz, see, they figgered that a simple 'east-west' split would be complicated, besides which, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State would all have been in a hypothetical 'east division'. So they tried to 'balance' the divisions, not realizing that, whatever snapshot you take of the conference today, could be radically different ten years from now. Wisconsin has been strong in recent years, but it wasn't that long ago that they weren't. And for all of Penn State's winning tradition, it ain't guaranteed to last forever, now that JoePa's gone. And our friends from down the road have been strangely, um, mediocre just recently. And none of that accounts for OSU and PSU being on probation, resulting in a 5-loss Wiscy team playing for (and winning) the conference championship. So, as much as you think you know what you're doing. . . you never do. . .
DeleteAnd Northern Illinois beating Florida. . . is that a bigger upset than Boise over Oklahoma, back in the day?
And Northern Illinois beating Florida. . .
DeleteLouisville, right? But to answer your question: prolly. I don't remember what the spread was... wait, yes I DO. Google is my friend and I see Boise was a BCS #10 and OU was a BCS #8. Given Boise's 1-point victory I'd say #21 Louisville beating the SNOT outta #3 Florida was a bigger upset. Gotta love The Wiki at times like these.
I got the Boise/OU rankings reversed. My anal-retentive need for accuracy comes to the fore...
DeleteLouisville, right. . . My anal-retentive need for accuracy was on a bathroom break. . .
DeletePS: As an only child I found early on that there is a serious distinction between being "alone" and being "lonely!" So, yes it is possible to be happily self-pityingly sad "home alone" w.o. being "lonely." lol
ReplyDeleteI'm quite clear about that distinction but other people are less so. Some just refuse to "get it," in fact, which drives me NUTS sometimes.
DeleteI watched a bit of the Rose Bowl (pulling for Wisconsin). Next week I will watch the Cotton Bowl, and I will be pulling for A&M. Gig'em Aggies.
ReplyDeleteI'll be rooting for the Aggies, too. I can't conceive of a situation where I'd root for OU.
DeleteWell, Buck, after tonight I'm 2 out of 3 after my Louisville Cards took Florida 33-23 (and avenged my Bayou Bengals in the bargain) The other, of course, in case you missed it was the Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns win over East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl pre Christmas. So, for now, God is back in MY good graces--temporarily, at least..
ReplyDeleteFor the record, my teams in order of loyalty are: 1) LSU, (BA) 2) Louisville (18 yrs) & my poor Illinois Fighting Illini (tie) 4) USL Ragin' Cajuns (MA) 5) my hometown Eastern Illinois Panthers (they did win an Div II NCAA Nat. Championship back in the 80s and produced 3 NFL Head coaches: Lovie Smith @ Chicago, Mike Shanhan@ Washington/Denver and Sean Payton in N.O.--with Dallas' Tony Romo and Oakland's Jeff Gossett (who avg 10pts/game over a 28 game career w. the Raiders--I've got an autographed picture--was Dads who was tight buds w, him, lol) thrown in for good measure--not bad for a little ex-NAIA school, eh?) and, finally, @#6 bringing up the rear but still on my Totem Pole of sports loyalty, my poor misbegotten/all-but-forgotten Tulane Greenies.(PhD)
DANG! I forgot about that game and I missed it. I'd have LOVED to see Florida get its ass kicked, especially after Florida's coach shot his mouth off about those lizards bein' a National Champion caliber team. Say what? Would you like another helping of crow, Muschamp?
DeleteThat's quite a list of loyalties/affiliations, Virgil. I'm impressed. Srsly.