A Game for All Ages-Stone the Grate

From now on, when someone "Googles" "stone the grate" or "can the grate" their search will be productive. You will not get leads to "great stones" or "great beer in cans". You will get this blog and find that "stone or can the grate" is or was a game that kids played before there was Wii, Nintendo, even clue or monopoly. It is a game our great uncle Joe from Detroit taught us when he came to visit our grandmother when we were in grammar school.

Why now? Why talk about this? Well, I started thinking about the game today when my wife and I were having a soda in the screen house. We emptied the can, and for some crazy reason, I proceeded to demonstrate the idea of the game. I placed a soda can on a stone, drew a wide circle, and stood behind the circle to try to knock the can off the stone with a can that I had. I missed with the throw which meant that I had to retrieve my can and get back across the line without being tagged by the person who was it. There were no other participants today, so I had to play all roles, moving back and forth trying to be it and not it at the same time. I was able to cross into the circle, pick up my can, quickly knock the "it" person's can off the grate (large stone), and retreat behind the line before the it person could replace his can on the grate and tag me. If that can had been on the grate, then I could have been tagged while I was getting my can back over the line, so that's why I had to knock it off. I explained all this to my patient wife, and she knew one thing for sure... I was crazy.

It is a simple game that is virtually unknown today, yet it is something that can be played anywhere, especially after emptying a lot of cans at a picnic, and any time of the year.

When Uncle Joe from Detroit (I emphasize that he was from Detroit because we had two other uncles Joe) taught us this game, we used rocks instead of cans. After we had smashed our fingers enough times with the rocks, we ventured across the street to a greasy gas  station and picked up a bunch of empty oil cans. These were real tin cans, and they made the game really fun. They were lighter than rocks, less dangerous (except for minor oil fumes), and they made a lot of noise.

We played the game a lot in our backyard one summer. And then the neighbors started complaining, the noise, the happy sounds of us playing and shouting, arguing over whether the line was crossed or the can was on or off the grate. And mom decided to help us out by making bean bags from some old denim trousers, as a substitute for the cans. It eliminated the clanking, but not the fun, and the arguments to solve the problems of the great game where there were no umpires or referees.There were no tremendous skills involved.  and so a very level playing field.

Uncle Joe from Detroit was in his 60s when he showed us how to play, so probably he had played this in the late 1800s.

Thinking about these things gets us back to our roots, where we have come from as individuals, as families and as a consumer nation. We are glad  for where we have been, and like to pass on some of the fun to future generations. If the power goes off, and there is no Wii, then we can still have some fun. We should not forget the games of our youth.

We should also like to leave the future generations a land where there is clean air, a level playing field, and a decent infrastructure so the lights won't go out. These too are things that we have grown up with and we owe to the future generations.

Fitness

About three weeks ago, I joined a health club. It gives me a destination in town, and a place where I am able to meet people and have a little fun, not to mention the possibility of getting into shape. I don't know why it took me so long to join a club.
Throughout the winter and spring months, I stayed in relatively good condition by walking almost every day, gradually lengthening the walks up to a regular of 3 miles, 3 or 4 times a week. I also included a couple of 5 mile ventures, and one into the unknown forest to the fire tower, and down the other side of that "hill" for a total round trip of about 6-7 miles. It was fun doing the walks, and on the off days from the club, I will continue to do them.
The problem with the walks are many. Most of the time was spent along a busy highway with trucks flying by at 60 mph. I injured myself one day when a truck's wind blew my hat off, and as I reached over my head to grab it, I jammed my left middle finger against my right hand. Ouch! It throbbed for the next two miles. Just walking a mile and a half one day, a total of 12 18-wheelers rolled by. So the road is hazardous. If I venture into the forest, like the fire tower trail, there are supposedly all sorts of wild animals waiting to get you. No matter where you walk, there is no cell phone service.
So I am glad to have joined the health club. There is a trainer who developed a plan for me, and showed me the machines. Start out slow he said. then he proceeded to show me a machine for my upper back, set it at 50 pounds, and had me do 15 reps. A piece of cake. We proceeded to the next machine for chest muscles. I almost fell over trying to get into the seat. He set it at 60, and told me to do 15 reps. Not bad! Next, to a machine for the biceps, where the weight was set at 20 for 15 reps, and this hurt a little. Finally, he brought me to a fourth machine, set it to 85 and I did 15 reps there. I thanked him profusely for showing me the secrets of the machines, and said I could do this. I was about to leave, and he said, "No, do it again on each machine 15 times." I thought to myself, I am starting slow, but he wants me to do this so I better. I struggled through the second set of exercises. He told me I was doing well, and now I had to do it again. I drew the line. "If I do this again today, I will probably have tight and sore muscles all over my upper body, and especially in my chest. I will think I am having a heart attack. I can't do that today. Next time." I was happy that he was so reasonable, saw my point, and let me off the hook.
I went back again after a couple of days, did the whole routine, and now I feel comfortable there. I raised the weight on all machines today, and look forward to continued progress into the triple digits of weight on some machines.
The real benefits of the club... air conditioning, bug free, sun free, and some good camaraderie among the people who go there and the trainers who do care about you, and also fitness.

A Plea for Honesty and Integrity

I had the opportunity to meet with my congressional representative at the Blueberry Festival a few weeks ago. He came up to me quickly with a big guy by his side, whom I presumed was a friend of his, but who was never introduced to me. Only afterward did I realize that this big guy was watching my every move, and also scanning the crowd to make sure none of the folks at the festival were getting too close or aggressive, and therefore, since I was very close and very upset, could have been in grave danger..

Be that as it may, I expressed some important concerns: about the importance of health care for everybody, and that the ACA must be supported, and if there are problems, then amend the act; about the attitude in congress- "my way or the highway"- was not a way to make progress; that congress should do its job, instead of just running for office continually. There are other points I wish I could have made, but I wanted him to hear my plea for health care that works for America.

His only retort, between his smiling teeth was: "Did you read the health care act?", to which I proudly responded, yes, and he said something about $44,000 being a cut off for health care. That was not something that I understood was there. And so I Googled that figure and the affordable care act. and I came upon this link:
http://www.aje-dc.org/programs/dchic/affordable-care-act-2

I found it a helpful description of the ACA, and an antidote to the poisonous misinformation that comes about in debates over the health care act. $44,000 is significant, true, but it is not a deal buster. After that salary, some wrinkles to health care insurance costs do kick in, but not entirely unmanageable, and probably represents a fair approach to funding our insurance.

Most politicians give only a smattering of the law so they can argue a  few points that may help them out. (My bet would be that most of them have not read the law, but have assumed the talking points of certain influential people who have an agenda that is not necessarily great for all of America.) They assume ignorance or blind allegiance from their constituents, and favor the constituency of the monied and the lobbies.And there are a lot of both of these who would like to "repeal" the ACA to the detriment of real progress on health care to benefit all citizens.  I think almost everyone agrees that something must be done to assure coverage and to bring down health care costs.

To add to the confusion of all this, you have a company like Papa John's Pizza which I probably will never buy again, stating that they are raising the cost of pizzas by 14 cents a pie. Pure rubbish (the concept...the pizzas aren't bad). The honchos at Papa John's ought to read the link that I posted above, and be honest about why they are raising the price....to make more money; perhaps to contribute to the political cacophony, to confuse people, to take advantage of the gullible and the gluttonous. (An odd aside here is that Bain Capital used its skills to put Domino's Pizza, a rival of Papa John's,on a profitable footing.)

I just wish we could understand all of it in simpler terms, aside from the rhetoric, apart from our appetites. I would  like truth, in real rather than fabricated context. I would like to see actual  pluses and minuses, and how the minuses might be less of a problem. I would like our statesmen to work together to make America better as the compromisers of other times did to move forward. And most of all our elected officials should stop running for office long enough to do the people's business.

Right to Vote-Right to Bear Arms

The other  day, one piece of mail came that intrigued me, especially in light of the efforts of states like Pennsylvania and Florida, and others to lay down new laws to prevent voter fraud in their repsctive states, thus requiring proof of identity and citizenship of all those who intend to vote.

The piece of mail was an invitation to me to join the NRA (National Rifle Association.) Perhaps my catalog subscription to Sportsman's Guide put me on their radar. The flyer said  this is my "Final Notice" that time is running out unless I act now " (my) second amendment rights are certain to be dismantled and destroyed." (Underlining was in the text.) They ask me to write a check to preserve my second amendment rights. "Because your firearm freedoms and your hunting and shooting traditions are under attack.

This comes after a crazy shooting in Aurora, CO, and I am writing this after another near Milwaukee. WI.

And then comes a new effort to make VOTING more difficult in Ohio, on top of efforts towards establishment of new ID requirements in Pennsylvania, and to purge the rolls of phony voters in Florida. Voting is as much of a right as bearing arms. And there are more voters than NRA members. It has not produced any harm to anyone, unless you count assassinations of some of our leaders down through history. The amount of voter frauds is negligible in the opinion of almost all those who monitor the elections in this country. And this is the right that is being targeted by legislators in the various states. ( I wonder how many legislators in the states actually said they were going to change the election laws when they were campaigning.) Laws are being proposed to limit this right which is indeed being destroyed and dismantled by state governments throughout our land.

And guns? Almost every state has a provision in its State constitution similar to the second amendment. Most states do not require a permit to purchase  gun. Most states do not require registration of a gun. Most states do not require a license for a gun. Only a few states have banned assault weapons. It is hard to believe that the second amendment is under assault and the right to vote is not.

I believe this strange mix up of values comes down to one very simple thing. Power versus the powerless. Guns are loud, they scare people, and they hurt. Votes, not so loud all the time, not so scary, not so hurtful. Maybe it is not power... perhaps bullying is a better word.

Open letter to Congressman Gibson

A letter to my congressman...
Dear Congressman Gibson:
I  was one of the people who met you at the Blueberry Festival in Austerlitz last Sunday. I was glad you came, however I was a bit saddened to see how politics has changed from earlier times. There was only one person with you. In other years, candidates would come to events with an entourage, composed mostly of friends and other local politicians, eager to be in the shadow of the congressman or senator. I detected that you are on a lonely road with just one "friend" as a companion, and only later did I realize that this man was probably a security person. He made no effort to be friendly or engage in conversation, and he was always looking away, and occasionally at me. I guess that is part of modern politics, and innocence has been lost.
The other way that politics has changed is even more disturbing. There was a time when lobbyists worked the corridors of congress and tried to influence the outcome of legislation for the benefit of the people they worked for... railroads, pipelines, unions, health associations and so on. Usually congressman did not, dared not tell anyone which constituent was influencing his vote. Congressmen were there to do the people's business, and what was right for the country. They were able to make compromises to get laws passed and business done.
I noticed that you are listed as one who has signed a pledge not to raise taxes. You are in the pocket of the self described lobbying group known as Americans for Tax Reform. Your pledge is kept in a vault to be trotted out when your strings need to be pulled. How can you responsibly join a lobbying group and still be an independent voice for all the people you represent? You can't. You should run from this group, disavow the pledge, and stand up to do what is right for the district and the country.
I would also suggest that you gather a group of congressional leaders to investigate the ethics of joining a lobbying group and then saying that it is the people whom they are serving. It is impossible to be independent and also have given your vote to a lobbying group like ATR.
ATR is a 501,c,4 non-profit organization that does not have to pay taxes, and people who contribute to them cannot claim a deduction for their contribution. But, according to the ATR website, there is an ATR Foundation that is 501,c,3 organization which is both non-profit and allows for contributions to be deducted. The goal of the foundation is for "research and educational organization."  ALMOST EVERY TOPIC LISTED UNDER THE FOUNDATION IS POLITICAL. I would think that the ATR Foundations should lose its 501,c,3 status.
To me, and many of my friends, these are important issues. I would like you to investigate and get back to me about them. Most of all, I would like you to put ATR behind you and be free to work for the people.
Sincerely,
Phil