Just One More

I have way too many Braves caps, but I just figured out one more that I “need” – an all-black Braves cap. Black logos, front and back. Can wear in the winter when its cold to places that aren’t quite as casual, when I’m around a bunch of old people.

Since 1946, Tech has played UGA every year except 2020. They’ve lost their last eleven games wearing their traditional gold helmets, white jerseys, and gold britches. Tech’s record against UGA, by uniform...

W - L helmet jersey pants

15-32 gold white gold  

00-05 gold gold white

00-04 white white gold

02-01 white gold white

04-04 gold white white

04-05 gold black gold

00-01 gold navy gold

Obviously the prior record does not factor into future uniform choice decision making process. Without exception, for the past 45 years (since 1981) against Tech the Dawgs have worn red helmets, silver britches, and either a red or white jersey.

Leo shared an old Portuguese saying: “If you hide, the beast will find you. If you run, the beast will catch you”. Kinda like “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t”.

Every December coworker Rachel wears a different Christmas sweater every day – at least 25 different sweaters. Yet whenever the office has a Christmas sweater contest, she never wins. It’s a shame.

Brain health article of the day: eating 60 peanuts every day will improve your brain function by 6%. That’s one peanut every 12 minutes, for 12 hours a day.

Went back to Cheeseburger Bobbys for the last day of the free cheeseburger deal again. Come January I won’t be able to do these deals.

FRED McGRIFF [SABR Bio] was the first Atlanta Brave to hit a home run in his first World Series at-bat. McGriff took Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser deep leading off the 2nd inning of Game 1 of the 1995 WS in Atlanta. McGriff played for the Dodgers in 2003. Toward the end of McGriff’s rookie season, on 14-Sep-1987, the Blue Jays set a major league record that still stands: ten home runs by one team in a single game against Baltimore: Ernie Whit (3), Rance Mulliniks and George Bell (2 each), and Lloyd Moseby, Rob Ducey, and McGriff with one apiece. McGriff grew up four blocks from Al Lopez Field, the longtime spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds.

Denison: top ten most sinful cites in America ranked: Vegas (1), Houston (2), LA (3), Philadelphia (4), Atlanta (5), Denver (6), Miami (7), Dallas (8), Phoenix (9), New Orleans (10). Memphis was 15 and NYC 17. Not sure what the definition of sin was.

Christmas Movies

Do you like the Christmas movie Elf? It’s one of the best. Bob Newhart. Ed Asner. James Caan. Mary Steenburgen. Will Ferrell. That girl with the funny name, from New Girl. Other Christmas movies that I like: The Polar Express. The Santa Clause movies. John Grisham wrote the short story “Christmas With the Kranks” which was made into a pretty good movie. Trading Places is kinda a Christmas movie. These off the top of my head. I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life.

Other classic Christmas movies: Home Alone, A Christmas Carol, The Family Stone, While You Were Sleeping, Miracle on 34th Street, Scrooged, White Christmas, A Christmas Story.

They’re decorating our office at work for the “holidays’, with a “holiday tree”, presents, etc. There’s been a wicker reindeer that’s been part of the lobby decorations for years and years. About ten years ago I started moving the reindeer around the lobby to see if anyone noticed. Well the ladies in  purchasing sure did – they were MAD! They were trying to get security camera footage to see who was messing with their decorations. Those ladies have long since retired, so every year I move the reindeer around the lobby. This year I will really have to go big on moving the reindeer around, perhaps upstairs to the breakroom and to other departments.

When Santa arrived at the end of last Thursday’s Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, Ceil noticed that Mrs. Claus appeared to be Asian. Was hard to detect Santa’s ethnicity. Then I saw the new Lexus Christmas advertisement, featuring the same Mrs. Claus as last year – though she appeared to have colored her hair from all white to black. Could’ve been Asian, not sure.

The Chick-fil-A milkshake: always a good choice. What flavor? I got me a peppermint milkshake from CFA last week.

The father/son golf tournament is coming up in a few weeks, the PNC. Dec 18-21. Trevino. Gary Player. Cink. John Daly. Singh. Annika. Nellie Korda. Did Justin Thomas recently have surgery? No Tiger this year. I completely missed the MLB golf tournament. Smoltz and Michael Harris came in third. Two guys from the Twins won it. The Capital One MLB Open.

A coworker ran the Atlanta Half Marathon last Thursday. I told her that she didn’t do it right – she forgot to talk about it every day for the two months leading up to the race.

Don’t be one of these people…

1. Have the constant need to be right. People who can’t consider other perspectives or admit that they might be wrong. Reveals low self awareness.  They reject feedback and stay stuck, instead of growing as a person.

2. Blame others instead of owning their own actions. They shift responsibility to anyone but themselves, which keeps them from growing.  

3. They talk more than listen. They dominate conversations and ignore what other people have to say. They care more about their own voice than learning anything new.    

4. Refuse to learn. Avoids challenges and dismisses advice. A closed mind keeps them stagnant. Smarter people remain curious and adaptable.  

5. Be overconfident without having substance. They act like experts without real knowledge or experience, often speaking impulsively, revealing and exposing their lack of depth. People can see right through this – they are not fooling anyone.   

6. Judge others too quickly. Snap assumptions and stereotypes show a lack of empathy, and almost always leads to unfair conclusions and strained relationships.

Life In The Fast Food Lane

Monday was a typical fast food day for me (which needs to stop). Free RaceTrac drink on the way to work. Free cheeseburger from Cheeseburger Bobby’s, with purchase of fries and drink. Left the office and stopped for a free junior frosty at Wendys. Then I bought a cookie from Chickfila to save for breakfast today. By buying the cookie I receive a free treat later this week. Plus Chickfila awarded me another treat for December.

 

At Halloween you buy five junior frosty coupons for a dollar, then when try to use one they don’t want to take your coupon. So I’ve been getting a free junior frosty every day. Hits the spot.

Ceil fixed beef stew for supper. The stew was good, but the beef was too chewy. Watched Jeopardy, the new Peyton’s Places with Gronk and Edelman, and the Manningcast with Danny Devito, a Giants fan. Crazy play involving Younghoe Koo, who inexplicably failed to swing his foot through the ball on a field goal attempt. Not sure what happened. Could be the end of his career.

Just happened to stumble across this article last night: the best places to stop when driving cross country, and the worst.

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Ohio: Buckeye Lake State Park…not great.

Pharmacy Burger Parlor in Nashville.

Dolly Parton’s White Limozeen in Nashville

Rendezvous BBQ in Memphis

Cheers Restaurant in Fayetteville Arkansas

The Blue Whale of Catoosa in Tulsa.

The Philbrook Art Deco Museum in Tulsa.

Cadillac Ranch outside of Amarillo

Stonehenge in Odessa

Stockyard Station & Cowtown Museum in Ft Worth

Santa Fe: Ojo Santa Fe Thermal Spa & Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Arizona: Petrified Forest National Park & the Painted Desert Inn & Newspaper Rock

Sedona: Cathedral Rock, Yavapai Apache Fry Bread & Jewelry.

I need to come up with my own list of places that I want to visit on my cross country trip. Except now I hate to drive, so it probably won't happen. Off the top of my head: New Orleans, Austin, Four Corners Arizona, White Sands National Park, Alaska, Mount Rushmore, Green Bay, Milwaukee, the Field of Dreams in Iowa, Nashville, Memphis, Key West, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Japan. Also other national parks that our kids had visited out west. Not that we’re going to any of these places, but it’s fun to list them.

Route 66 runs from Chicago to Santa Monica…2448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. Attractions include…

Pontiac IL: Route 66 hall of fame

Springfield IL: Cozy Dog drive in and Lauterbach giant figure.

St Louis Gateway Arch & Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

Stanton MO: Meramec Caverns

Cuba MO restored hotels

Galena Kansas service station inspired the movie Cars

Baxter Springs historic downtown

Catoosa OK blue whale

Tulsa art deco downtown

Oklahoma City

Clinton OK route 66 museum

Amarillo Cadillac Ranch & Big Texan Steak House

Vega: midpoint, classic cafes

Tucumcari classic neon signs

Santa Rosa auto museum, blue hole swimming spot

Albuquerque Old Town Plaza, historic downtown

Holbrook: Petrified Forest National Park & Painted Desert.

Winslow AZ “standin’ on the corner” park, La Posada Hotel.

Seligman & Oatman classic storefronts

Amboy Crater, Roy’s Motel & Café sign in the Mojave

Victorville / Barstow: route 66 museum, Harvey House depot.

Pasadena roadside architecture to Santa Monica Pier.

Denison on Dick Van Dyke’s lack of belief in the afterlife: I have been amazed by the assumption of so many people that their subjective beliefs about the afterlife will unquestionably correspond to what actually happens to them when they die. I remember a woman who told me, “I don’t believe in hell,” as if hell must therefore not exist. This seems to me like saying “I don’t believe in Australia” and therefore assuming there is no such thing as Australia.

The Girlies Invade Athens

More photos from the girlies first UGA game.

They also went to the UGA Botanical Garden, where Will spent time as a student.

Charles Norman and fam had their photo taken with Santa Blooper. I think someone gifted them the experience. Charles’ wife Addie is having surgery this week. She’s been so courageous. Pray for her.

Three of my coworkers were road tripping to Waukesha Wisconsin this weekend. They left out on Friday morning and stopped in Nashville to eat hot dogs at a place called “I Dream of Weinie”. Spent the night in Effingham Illinois – four hours away from Waukesha. They woke up Saturday morning to find that a snowstorm had passed through. They tried the highway but soon turned back, spending the day in Effingham, playing Uno and eating inside a snow globe diner.    

Have a good weekend? After a busy Wednesday and Thursday, I was a slug on Friday Saturday and Sunday. Hardly did anything on Friday and Saturday except eat, sleep, watch football, and walk Winnie outside. Goose played in the leaves.

Sunday I went to Sunday School. Wasn’t feeling well. Left church and stopped by Dollar Tree, RaceTrac for a drink, and Wendys for a free frosty. The Wendys lady gave me two of the small frostys. I’d grabbed a frozen pizza at Dollar Tree, so that stuffed me for the afternoon. Napped through most of the Falcons game and was facetiming with Millie when they lost the game at the end.

I won a big bad $100 Kohls gift card in the Kohls Christmas Sweepstakes. Grand prize was $100,000.00. For those who say “you’re always winning” – remember, I spend 15-30 minutes a day entering sweepstakes – EVERY DAY – to win one or two things. A solid 7 days of my year. I consider it a hobby, a pastime. Usually I’m entering sweepstakes at night while plopped on the couch watching TV.

Ten minutes of Jay Leno talking about his parents, including the famous “Stingman?” bit.

Scientists Discover Speech Trait That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline. 

Players with 5,000+ career at-bats but fewer than 200 career strikeouts.

Player                     AB    SO      %  games hits   WAR

Joe Sewell........... 7132  114....016 . 1903  2226  54.9

Willie Keeler.........8591...136...016.. 2123..2932..54.3

Lloyd Waner.........7772...173...022.. 1993..2459..29.9

Charlie Comiskey 5796...132...023.. 1390..1529... 7.7

George Miller........5171...129...025.. 1318..1381..19.1

Lou Bierbauer..... 5713... 160...028.. 1385..1524..13.9

Frank McCormick 5723...189...033... 1534. 1711..31.9

Ezra Sutton...........5360..182...034....1263. 1574..32.9

Tommy McCarthy..5120..185  036....1273..1493...16.2

Always liked the old Far Side cartoon about the guy in Hell who whispered to his friend “I hate this place.” Reminds me of the long joke about the guy who’s just arrived in hell, who got to pick out what room he’d spend eternity in. “Coffee break is over – back on your heads!”

Sharing this article so I will remember: Tips To Help Improve Memory and Brain Aging.

1. Get plenty of Omega-3’s and Vitamin B, C, and D. Eat fish, leafy greens, dark chocolate, and rosemary.

2. Take creatine and citicoline.

3. Get plenty of sleep.

4. Keep moving throughout the day.

5. Challenge your brain by playing games and working puzzles.

6. Prayer supports brain health.

7. thinking you're younger helps your mind and body work better.

8. Finding connection and purpose helps with brain longevity.

College Football Roundup

Sports can sure stir up the old emotions. Take the "2025 Atlanta Gridiron Classic". GT screwed up the opening kickoff, the return man stepping out of bounds and takes a knee on the 3 yard line. Then a one yard loss, then QB King is lucky he isn’t called for intentional grounding in the end zone, which would have been a safety. Three plays – all bad for the Jackets. Not the best way to beat the #4 team in the country.

Dawgs ran the ball well in the first half but kept trying unsuccessfully to mix in the pass. Tech played better defense than they did against NC State and Pitt. I would’ve rather seen Tech win those games than beat UGA.
 
Tech needed to play perfect to win, and they didn’t. Too many penalties. But they kept it close. Dawgs were down to one starting offensive lineman. GT TE Brett Seither made catches he had dropped in previous games. He’s one of at least two Jackets who had transferred from UGA. It eventually got to the point where UGA needed to quit making mistakes, and for the most part they did.  

Did not realize that Peyton Woodring is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. And he's not even a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award. Woodring needs to ditch the Brett Thorson WalMart look. GT kicker Birr cut the Dawgs lead to 16-9 with 3 minutes remaining. Very little offense from the Dawgs in the second half. They’d throw an incompletion on first down, then Tech would stop the 2nd down running play - setting up too many 3rd & longs.

Tech used timeouts too early and too often. So many keepers by Stockton. Dawgs convert the key 3rd & one to take the clock down to the 2 minute timeout. Dawgs were flat out playing conservative, not running any plays they might run against December opponents.

UGA WR Branch is some talent. Transferred from USC. A good attitude and leader. Before Bama played last night, Stockton continued to be the highest-rated SEC QB against ranked teams.

As usual the Jackets came to play against UGA. Not sure why they can’t play that well against lesser teams. They take their final timeout with 1:55 and stopped the Dawgs for no gains on 1st and 2nd down.

Dawgs run the clock down to 21 ticks before having to punt, which takes another 8 seconds off the clock. Lucky for Tech that the punt bounced into the end zone, or the clock might’ve run out right then. Two completions move the ball to the UGA 45 with time for one last Hail Mary. Didn’t work. Crazy game.

Not really a neutral site game, but a home game for Tech played at Mercedes Benz. GT has a 1-5 record when playing in Mercedes Benz Stadium. UGA is 8-5. Pretty sure Tech won’t be playing any more home games in Mercedes Benz.

And I've just about had it with "Good clean old fashioned hate", or whatever it is I kept hearing over and over. UGA has a whole list of more bitter rivalries: Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, even Clemson. It ain't a rivalry when one side has won the last 8 straight. Tech fans need to do a little of that analysis they're supposed to be so famous for. All the nit-picking and complaining just makes for a worse look. 

On Thursday we had the three NFL games on the TV. All were close: Packers@Lions, Chiefs@Cowboys, Bengals@Ravens.

Nebraska sophomore QB Dylan Raiola broke his leg in early November and is out for the rest of the season. His replacement has been playing well. Now Raiola is thinking about transferring. He’s played okay in his year and a half at Nebraska, but hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. More of a game manager than a game changer. Raiola went to three different high schools, “committed” first to Ohio State, then UGA, then Nebraska. Not sure I’d want him on my team.

Ole Miss not cashing in on every opportunity but still comfortably led 24-13. Tough to blow out a rival. Mississippi State has played teams tough this year. Finished 38-19.

Some hate to admit it, but Arch had a little to do with Texas upsetting the undefeated #3 ranked Aggies. For sure Texas A&M had played a much less tougher schedule than Texas had. Despite the cutting wind that many “experts’ forgot about, Arch went 14-29 by mostly throwing deep downfield, with defenders repeatedly committing uncalled pass interference penalties, according to the rules official in the booth.

Arch put the game out of reach with a 35 yard TD run. Too bad for the Dawgs, who must play next week instead of getting a couple weeks rest to recover from injuries. Kirby don’t care.

SC head coach Beamer seems like a stand up guy. Even Dabo likes him. But Beamer pulled one over on me, and I want my money back. I ain’t never gonna trust what he says again. He said his QB LaNorris Sellers was a Heisman candidate. A flat out lie. Guess Beamer had to say that to keep his QB happy, to keep him from transferring. Sellers dad encouraged young LaNorris to be content with the millions the Gamecocks were funneling his way. But the kid is no Heisman candidate. Prove me wrong. Any team that courts Sellers and empties the bank for him will be sorry. Miami? Go ahead and take him.

Sellers played against Clemson, and played poorly. Uninspired. Down the stretch I saw no sense of urgency. Threw a costly pick six. After that play the speedy track star who moonlights as a SC WR didn’t seem too upset. The WR would lose a fumble on the next SC possession. The Tigers took advantage of these and other opportunities, and won easily.

More teams should take Dabo's lead and save special uniforms for special occasions - starting with the orange championship pants. Genius idea. The Gamecocks should be the next to adopt this idea. Carolina's black jerseys and pants didn't look too bad when coupled with white helmets and socks.

Vanderbilt coasted past Tennessee. The win should get QB Diego Pavia a ticket to NYC for the Heisman presentation. He’s not my winner. Ohio State and Indiana punched their tickets to the conference championship game. Will the winning QB therefore win the Heisman? Probably, though that’s not my criteria.

Oklahoma edged LSU. Miami blew out Pitt, the same Panthers who blew out Tech. Lots of teams fighting to make the playoff.

Bama got out to a 10-0 first quarter lead in the iron Bowl. Ten 17-0, but the War Eagles came back to tie the game at 20. Tide score the go ahead TD late. Auburn had a couple of opportunities, but kept putting the ball down on the turf. Tida will be a tough foe for the Dawgs in the SEC Championship Game, what with all the injuries on the UGA offensive line. I don’t think they were sandbagging. 

Never thought that in 2025 Tom Brady would look like Bo Schembechler, or even Jim Harbaugh. The world must be coming to an end.

Thanksgiving

We were on the go all day Thursday, getting ready for Thanksgiving. Ceil and Matthew and Anna were cooking. Caleb had cooked the turkey. 

Anna fixed a dip. M had brought a buttercream pie. He made an apple crisp, macaroni and cheese, green beans. C made the dressing, homemade rolls, cinnamon rolls, and mashed potatoes. 

Will arrived from work around 6 and we ate soon thereafter. After everyone left we were cleaning up until 9 pm. We were worn out. Terrible photo...

MC had the girlies up with her family up in Cartersville. Will had spent the night up there Wednesday night before driving back for his shift. Since he had to work again on Friday, we thought he might spend the night at our house.

With Will working, we didn’t know if we’d be able to eat before 730 - otherwise we could’ve invited out of town family members to eat with us. Just don’t have enough bedrooms set up to accommodate a bunch of people. Plus all three dogs. We’re just not good at having people over.

Friday: slept past 930 am. Leftovers for brunch. No plans for today. C was trying to buy things online. Will had to be back at the ER at 6 am. Anna and Matthew had to work Friday as well.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy.

Denison: a Harvard study reports that thanksgiving leads to emotional and social well-being, better sleep quality, lower depression risks, favorable markers of cardiovascular health, and may even extend lives.

Francis Bacon, the father of modern science, observed: “It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy.”

LLOYD WANER [SABR Bio] set the highest batting average by a NL rookie, hitting .355 for the Pirates in 1927.  The team made it to the postseason that year with a lineup that read, in part, “Waner, Waner, Traynor”. Lloyd Waner was born in Harrah, Oklahoma in 1902. Waner set the rookie record, but it was broken by the Cardinals’ George Watkins who hit .373 three years later. That year the Giants Bill Terry hit .401, the last NL player over .400. Waner holds the major league Modern Era rookie record for runs scored. He scored 133 times that year, more than Joe DiMaggio’s 132 and Ted Williams’ 131. Lloyd’s older brother Paul broke into the majors the year before Lloyd. The writers put Paul in the HOF in 1952. Lloyd was inducted as player in 1967, voted in by the Veterans Committee.

Places to Travel inexpensively: Minneapolis. Myrtle Beach. Denver. Atlanta. Houston. Orlando. Vegas. Portland. Chicago. Austin.

How to stop taking everything so personally:

1. Learn what actually belongs to you, and what never did.

2. Most of what others say is a reflection of their inner weather, not a judgement of your worth.

3. When a storm passes overhead, you do not ask What did I do wrong?” You simply let it pass. In the same way, another person’s moods, words, or actions are often storms that were brewing long before you arrived.

4. Your peace isn’t threatened unless you hand it over.

5. Taking things personally comes from believing you most control how others think, feel, or receive you.

6. You are not responsible for managing the emotions that live inside someone else’s mind.

7. The moment you stop trying to be understood be everyone, you reclaim your freedom.

8. Respond from clarity – not from old wounds.

9. Be curious, not defensive. Be grounded, not reactive.

10. When your heart is steady, even harsh words lose their power.    

11. Do not let someone else’s chaos decide the temperature of your inner world.

12. Protect your inner peace.

13. You are allowed to walk away from anything that tries to pull you into a battle that isn’t yours.

14. Repeat this truth: nothing others do is because of me. Everything they do is because of them.

Passed on a cheap pair of like-new adidas Cloudfoam sneakers. Nice, but I try to stay away from grey shoes. Plus they didn't have stripes on the inside part of the shoe. And the last thing I need is another pair of shoes.

Georgia National Cemetery

Wednesday was a memorable day. W&MC dropped the girls off at our house. Then it didn’t take the girlies 5 minutes to get markers all over their clothes, hands, and faces. Cleaned them up a bit before leaving.

Then there were no pacifiers for little Millie, and the girls were having a breakdown right when we were trying to leave. We had to get on the road because we couldn’t be late. The Georgia National Cemetery in Canton was an hour away. I’d told C we needed to leave at 1245. We didn’t leave until 125.

Ceil got the girlies there on time. I had to drive separately, and had to stop off to buy some pacifiers. Bought extras to have here at the house for future emergencies.

The cemetery is located on top of a mountain. Right at 3 pm the procession started. A short drive from the marshaling center to where the service would take place. Less than 40 in attendance, mostly family. Taps was played by a bugeler, and rifles were fired. MC’s mother had prepared a speech, praising her late husband.

Shivonne and Millie were sitting with W&MC but were antsy. W&MC let them come back to me and C, and we let them roam around the pathways of the cemetery. A beautiful, cloudless day.

Will’s brother-in-law Thomas and sister-in-law Holly were home from San Francisco. They’d attended the Monday Night Football game in SF. Holly works there at Levi’s Stadium, and will be working on the upcoming Super Bowl and World Cup.

Ceil and I drove back home. Lots of people out on the roads. Ate at Moxie Burger. Ceil fixed an eggy boy for breakfast on Thursday morning.

Dishes for Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, an apple dessert, M made a pie, vanilla ice cream, ambrosia, French bread, homemade cranberry sauce, cinnamon rolls.

JOE SEWELL  [SABR Bio] had two brothers and a cousin who played in the majors. Sewell was born in Titus, Alabama in 1898 and played 14 years. His brother, Luke Sewell was a catcher who played 20 years, and was an All-Star in 1937. Their brother Tommy Sewell had only one pinch at-bat for the Cubs in 1927. A ”Cub of coffee” if you will. Cousin Rip Sewell compensated for a battlefield injury by inventing the “eephus” pitch. Joe was the second player to play more than 1000 consecutive games. His streak lasted 1103 games, beginning on 13-Sep-1922 when he pinch-hit for his brother Luke. It lasted until 30-Apr-1930. From 1931-1933 Sewell played for the Yankees and was a teammate of Lou Gehrig. The player whose record Gehrig broke (Everett Scott played 1307 straight games), was also briefly a teammate of the Iron Horse. Joe once said of his consecutive games streak, “No one made a big fuss about playing streaks 50-60 years ago. At that time, my straight games plus a dime would be good for a cup of coffee.”

Separated at birth: nate bargatze and GT QB Haynes King.