“Steppin’ on out”

Happy Saturday. Crazy, and I have no idea why, but I seem to be waking up earlier than what I consider normal. Of course there are excuses, a nearby garbage truck, a motorbike or a loud car, even a distant dog. All excuses. I am beginning to believe that it must be some sort of a life change.

In a sense it’s too bad that we no longer have the ‘knocker-uppers’ of yesteryear blowing a pea my way. It’d be a perfect way to either start some morning conversation, or even a part-time job for me.

It’s a coffee question – That magic moment. The moment when it was time for me to grind coffee. All it takes is a couple of minutes before Marcia is out of the bedroom with an; “I smell the coffee.” Actually, I hadn’t even started the brewing process, it was just the grinding.

This leads me to the question. This batch has the roasted beans with a substantial sheen. Now, I’ve seen these both with and without their sheen. I know it’s the oil, but why a sheen on some and not on other batches? Other than a flimsy, “it’s the degree of roasting” I can only chalk it up to one of those mysteries of life.

As an aside but coffee related, this week it was reported that after ten years McDonalds regained the title of world’s most valuable eatery, beating our rival Starbucks.

Personally, this doesn’t affect me much since I don’t do Starbucks (only in an emergency). Aside from high pricing I can’t even figure out what to order from their menu board – and others must have the same problem since their lines stretch forever.

Club World Cup news – What follows is all Adrianne’s fault. Apparently, her Peace Corps contacts communicated a need for volunteers during June’s soccer Club World Cup FIFA month long soccer game tournament which spread across the country. These are the world’s best playing teams competing in an array of cities here in the USA.

She called me.

Minutes after I established contact with FIFA

An hour or so later I had a document application form – which ‘only’ took me a little over an hour and a half to complete. Included was the data required for a complete background check.

Then it started getting serious. Twenty-plus minutes to check off an array of topics for them to gain insight into how I operate and function. Two written descriptors regarding my ‘Why volunteer.” From a chart, clothing and shoe sizes needed to be checked, and so it went.

Two days later I was invited to a must attend three-hour training session to be held mid-April at nearby Xavier University’s Basketball venue.

>>> I am pumped!
>>> Marcia thinks I am nuts!

What follows is how we experienced the events in front of the Reds Opening Day game.

Findlay Market – Since 1855 our Findlay Market has been an institution, with its wrought iron construction it’s a landmark. Over the many years of our Reds Baseball team, it’s been the vendors of Findlay who have sponsored a Reds Opening Day parade from the market to first the old Crosley Field, then Riverfront Stadium, and now it’s Great American Ballpark. Without fail, every year that parade has been a fixture.

Throughout that time, it’s maintained the feeling of what must have been the look when it was made up by the butchers, fish mongers, and costermongers (vegetable/fruit sellers) of those early years. Even now it still had brother Arty say from his perch in California; “so cool that Cincy still has that small town feel.”

A dozen or so marching bands, bunches of current and past sports and political figures, many corporations and organizations and clubs. And so it goes, lots of cheering, and loads of candy tossed and tchotchkes handed out make up the fun time – at least so say the 140,000 of us lining the street.

Adrianne drove her organization’s van in the parade. Vai and I had our bag chairs front and center on the route. Marcia stayed home and watched the whole thing on TV (or so she claims ?)

Enjoy my 3-minute blend of what we experienced. At the very end it’s Adrianne driving the mobile van for her organization; Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABvi) & that is Vai running up to the window.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

What really is a “Minsky Moment”? One listed ‘answer’ is correct

1) “Hyman Minsky moment: a computer gamers’ winning move”
2) “Hyman Minsky moment: the acceptance of the term; “Bidenomics”
3) “Hyman Minsky, moment: start-up of London’s repaired Big Ben clock”
4) “Hyman Minsky moment: a sudden collapse of the market”
5) “Hyman Minsky moment: describes the deep space transfer of Black Matter”
6) “Hyman Minsky moment: power transfer moment for magnetic trains”