The Olympics are over???

I almost missed it this year.  The Winter Olympics. They came and went without a lot of fanfare. Or maybe there was fanfare, but I was on the wrong channel.  I expected lots of social media. Facebook, twitter, instagram, whatever...but...there was very little of that.  Strange.

I remember when I was a kid...back in the 70's...everyone was talking about the Olympics! Months before they started! Granted, the Summer games were always a bigger draw, but the Winter games also generated a lot of buzz.  There was American pride, and everyone was glued to the games to see the USA kick some ass.  It was the Cold War all over again. Didn't matter as long as we beat Russia. 

So this year, they banned Russia from the games because of doping. (Go figure). The ones they did allow to compete were the Olympic Athletes of Russia or OAR. Nothing they did went into the official record books. As a matter of fact, they had to give couple of medals back after the Russian curling team was busted for doping.  THE CURLING TEAM IS DOPING???? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT?? Gotta pump up before you slide a rock down the ice. And those guys sweeping the ice...they need that extra steroid bump to handle the brooms.....That being said, curling is one of those things that you won't admit to watching, but it draws you in. hooks you...and soon you realize you have watched this thing for the last three hours. It's quite memorizing.  More so than the skiing I think. I can watch downhill skiing for about 15 minutes. It's all the same. These guys and girls are so good, they never fall. Snooze. What's on PBS?

I missed most of the opening ceremony, didn't care about the closing ceremony,  and in between caught snippets here and there.  I did tune in to the figure skating to see Johnny Wier's  hair.  All kidding aside, there was some amazing skaters this year.  

The event I like the most is the skeleton. These guys are shooting downhill on the ice covered bobsled run on what is basically a half sized Flexible Flyer doing about 90 MPH. Arms at their side, no real way to steer....These guys have my total respect.  When I was 12 years old, I was on my Flexible Flyer going down dead man's hill.  I lost control and hit a tree face first at maybe 10 MPH.  I had to drink Thanksgiving dinner through a straw.  

So, with the winter Olympics over, life gets back to normal. Which isn't much different than a week ago when it was in full swing. Let's start getting ready for the 2020 Summer games. I'm pumped!!

ANOTHER SNEAK PEEK CHAPTER FROM MY UPCOMING BOOK

Well, I have not posted a blog in about a month. The writing time that I set aside every day has been taken up with the book I am writing.  I hope to have it done and E-published within the next 3 or 4 months. Meanwhile, here is a sneak peek at one of the chapters.

From the book 'THE SELF HELP BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE SELF HELP BOOKS ' 
©2017 Speedcat Productions

CHAPTER 10

Sand Dunes

Have you ever felt like you are climbing a sand dune? You start at the bottom, and begin climbing. You get a little way and then slide down. You know if you can get up to the top, that the answers are right on the other side. It's a long way. It's hot and it's, well, sandy. It's in your shoes, it's in your shorts and chafing places that sand really should not be.

We do this to ourselves all the time. We beat our heads against the wall trying not to get a headache while hoping to figure out answers that are on the other side of the dune. We somehow have this Hollywood vision of sweeping vistas and a beautiful mountain landscape waiting once we reach the top of the dune! Sometimes it's a mirage.

Here is a thought. Sometimes it might take a little longer, but maybe walking around the sand dune might be a better answer. You expend less energy by walking instead of climbing, and you don't get sand in your crack.

If the answer is on the other side of the Dune, it will still be there whether you go around or up. (Some people even try to dig a tunnel through the dune to get to the other side....but that image is just too horrendous to even think about....

I have learned that when you get to the other side, it's easier to handle whatever you find there if you are not exhausted from getting there. Because, sometimes the answer is not what you expect it to be,

Expectation is the key word here. We all have expectations. They can involve work, upbringing, marriage, dating, friendships and pretty much everything you do with a vision of what you desire out of something. Even a pet, or new car...If it isn't what you picture in your idyllic mind, you are disappointed and unhappy. Why? Part of it is expectations that others have planted into you. “I just got this great Jack Russell Terrier. He is the perfect dog...... So off you go to get a perfect dog of your very own. You bring your Jack Russell home and he barks all night and tears everything up and becomes your worst nightmare. You call your friend and chew his ass because he planted these expectations in your head. He didn't mention that he lives on a farm. You live in a one bedroom apartment in the city. Expectations depend a lot on the perception you garner from what others say. Be it friends, relatives or advertisers. Advertisers are the worst for planting expectations in our heads. Climb the sand dune and the world is better on the other side. What a large pile of crap.

Now, here I go again telling you that positive thinking is not what you should subscribe to. Not at all. We all have to have expectations, and not all of them are going to pan out like we want them to. It goes back to how we react to the outcome. If you go into things without depending on a particular outcome, you will find things work better in the long run. If things work out the way you picture, great. If not, Then take the pitch as it comes. Sometimes when you are looking for a fastball, a curve ball comes sneaking up to you. You have to be ready to hit whatever is pitched no matter what you might think it's going to be.

I told my wife when we first moved to Las Vegas where people do NOT know how to drive, 'Here is what you do to survive driver here...(or anywhere really). Be aware of those around you. Think of the craziest, stupidest off the hook thing they could possibly do...and prepare for that! That way when they do it, you are not taken by surprise.

One more thought about sand dunes. They are fluid. Always moving and being reshaped by the wind. They are not stagnant like a huge rock wall (which as we said before is also changing constantly, but at much slower pace). Sometimes if you have a goal, and you climb the sand dune to no avail, and you don't have the ambition to walk around it, maybe just leave it be for a while. Come back to it later. Maybe the winds of change will reshape it and even make it a smaller hill to climb.

Life is a desert of shifting sand dunes. Unpredictable. Erratic. Harmony changes into dissonance, the immediate outlives the profound, esoteric becomes cliched. And vice versa.  – Ella Leya

A LONG DAY OF MOURNING

Today. October 2nd, is already a day of mourning on my annual calendar.  Today would have been my son Michael's 30th birthday. Today I light a candle for him. We lost him on Father's day 2005.  Happy Birthday, my son. I love you and know you are with me always. 

It is, though, a double day of mourning in the wake of the horrendous (not a strong enough word) events that unfolded here in the city I love, Las Vegas. I won't go into the whole story, because everyone knows what happened.  My Wife Nikki and I were sitting at home. We had just finished watching Walk The Line, and my phone started beeping.  Having been a 911 dispatcher in one of my past work incarnations, I have a police scanner app on my phone. It alerted me that 40,000 people were listening to the scanner.  That's a lot. Flipped it on along with the TV to see the events unfolding. Listening in real time to the officers and the dispatchers. The strike teams and SWAT teams. The amazing coordination of our law enforcement and support agencies.  They came in amidst total pandamonium and took control. They quickly located the shooter and confirmed he was dead.  It was amazing to hear in real time. We knew details long before the news channels reported.  

I woke up this morning to many e mails and texts asking about my welfare.  I did a show at Caesar's Palace the night before and was invited to come to the concert last night. I declined.  I like to spend Sunday night with my son and my wife. Which I did.  I, as a spectator do not like large crowds unless I am performing for them. We realize last night that no one is safe from a madman.  The entertainers had a hard time realizing what was happening, because on stage, it's loud and hard to hear.  I have been on many stages this size, and seeing the video, praise the people who cleared the stage in the short precious time they did.  

This could have been much much worse. As we listened to the scanner, there were reports of shots fired at Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Tropicana, Flamingo, New York New York and the Paris. 
My first thought was that it was a coordinated terrorist attack. Thank god the shots fired reports at the other properties were unfounded. One gunman. This time.  Face it...Las Vegas is a target. We are very vigilant in our security in this town. There are thousands of cameras in every hotel / casino here and many sharp trained eyes that are watching everything you do.  How did this guy get all these guns up. Suitcase? Golf Bag? Something that security didn't catch.  I see a future where we will have to run bags through a scanner at check in like at the airport. But even then, unlike the airport, we have free range at hotels.  All this is yet to be revealed. 

For now, today, this moment, I mourn the loss of my son Michael, and pray for the well being of all the surviving victims of last nights shooting, and pray God's Speed to Heaven for the ones who did not make it.  Bravo to all the first responders, and the brave every day citizens who kept themselves in harm's way to help others who were hurt. Last night they were all just people helping each other.  Humanity can come together and be one force for good. 

Take a moment of silence for the departed and Good night and God Bless

The Yellow Shirt...............

I work, as you may know, at Jim Marsh Kia in Las Vegas (plug plug). We have a variety of polo shirts that we wear, including White, Red and YELLOW.  We are only required to wear the YELLOW shirt on Saturdays.  Now, when I say yellow, I am not referring to a light canary, or even a mustard, or traffic light speed up to get through the intersection yellow. I am talking full blown, neon, glow in the darkness of space, stop traffic, blinding highlighter YELLOW. Even Yellower than that!

When there are fifteen of us gathered for our saturday sales meeting, we brighten up the room, and believe me, it's not because of our sparkling personalities. It is, the YELLOW shirts. 

When we got the yellow shirts, there was much grumbling. jokes about removing stains with a highlighter, radioactive references, and of course, the whole, 'We look like security guards'  narrative. 

(If you have ever been to Vegas, you know that all the security officers in the casino hotels wear bright yellow shirts. .... but, I dare say, not THIS YELLOW).  That being said, I really kinda like the shirts. We were all required to purchase 1 of the shirts. I purchased 3, because I like YELLOW.  I would wear the shirt every day, and actually wear it a couple times a week, prepared for the yellow shaming from my friends,  all in fun. I have even seen a few of them wearing the shirt when not required. ?  It works with my skin tone. 

Every so often on a Saturday, a customer will be on the lot, and out of professional courtesy, I will ask them if they have been helped.  "Oh, yes", they will say.  "The guy in the YELLOW shirt is finding a car for us".... Much like the man in the bowler hat in The Thomas Crown Affair.  Yes, very helpful.

Soooooo, yesterday, being a Saturday, YELLOW shirt day, my day ended by me having to pick a customer up at McCarren airport.  He was flying in to drive his new Kia from Jim Marsh Kia (plug plug) back to L.A.  So, being the extreme customer service kinda guy that I am, I drove the 40 minutes to the airport, dealing with flight delays and the whole bit (his flight was delayed over an hour) and waited patiently for him in the baggage claim area to arrive.  I did inform him that I would be in the brightest YELLOW shirt I believe he has ever seen, or indeed will ever see again. 

The flight board informed me that I had about a 25 minute wait until his flight arrived. So, there I stood, playing words with friends, and candy crush peacefully minding my own business when out of the blue, it began.

A weary disheveled traveler walked up and asked me where to go for lost luggage.  I informed him that I do not work there, and I am sorry, I have no clue.  He then read my shirt: the bold red letters above the left pocket saying Jim Marsh Kia (plug, plug), shook his head and walked away.  Within  30 seconds, a  young couple in party mode (there was no doubt), walked up to me with alcohol induced increased speaking volume, demanded I take them to the shuttle for the Flamingo hotel and casino.  I smiled and said, I don't work here.  They, in no uncertain terms, informed me that I should not be wearing a F****** YELLOW shirt.  They then proceeded to stumble up to a Limo driver, also waiting for his customer and yelled at him, for probably wearing a funny limo guy hat.  I just shook my head, made a remark to him about tourists, and continued my vigil. 

Within another minute, a somewhat looking confused gentleman with his cap on sideways and 46 pounds of gold chains proceeded to ask me, quite forcefully to show him where the international terminal was.  I told him, I wished I could help, but I don't work here.  He paused a moment, and said, "Hey, I was just askin'...do you know where it is?" I told him no, and he walk off in a huff. 

Now, I have been at the baggage claim all of about 7 minutes and have guided people to the rest room, shuttle busses, and baggage carousel 12.  Hmmm, maybe it is time to hide. So, I took a post behind the ATM in the corner.  Alas, the radiance of the YELLOW shirt is not easily dimmed.  More people, more directions, more "Sorry, I don't work here."  

I looked up. Another man headed toward me. My initial thought was to kick him square in the...."Hey, Ron....we made it...."  It was my customer. I hurried him and his girlfriend out of the baggage claim into the safety of my car, and drove to where the paperwork was signed. Delivered the car and put a cap on the night.  

On the way home, I stopped at the Casino to pop in to see who won the fight. As I peered at the board, happy in knowing I had accomplished my mission with my customer, Someone tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned around to face a nice older gentleman. "Excuse me," he said, "Do you work here?" 

I thought I would share Nikki's Blog this week. It's GREAT

http://dflenergyhealer.blogspot.com/2017/07/searching-for-spirit-addiction-energy.html?spref=fb

Please read and share

July 4th

Happy Birthday America.  I write this on July 5th, because I was really busy being a proud American last night.  I live in Las Vegas, so, it's all about finding a good vantage point where one can see the whole strip from a distance.  Then, let the fireworks begin.  The rocket's Red Glare....The Bombs Bursting in Air...

It is a bit concerning that a lot of people think of the 4th of July as a celebration of some kind of Fascist rule of America. I have seen a lot of reports about this.  Yet others think of it as no more than an excuse to get ripped and blow shit up.  It has gotten to the point where people are afraid to fly an American Flag in their yard. To many, showing patriotism seems to be un-American in some way.  In short, there are a lot of backward thinkers in this world.  People who jump at the chance to poop on our party. They don't like Christmas, or July 4th, or any holiday that celebrates greatness and goodness.  They seem to come out every time there is a Holiday. Oh well, to them I say, have a nice day.

No one has the power to ruin my good time. I am a proud American. I practice a Live and let Live attitude, as long as these people don't try to ram their beliefs down my throat. I am all about listening to all points of view. But, if I happen to disagree with a point of view, don't get in my face over it and tell me I am wrong. 

I was talking to someone the other day, and the topic came around to Johnny Cash. I told him that I do a Cash tribute show. We got to talking about John being a great american hero. A patriot. A man of the people. He said..."There aren't enough Johnny Cashs' in the world"..... Enough said. 

Have a great day!

My Kia Blog about your car and the heat.

I thought I would share my Kia Blog from today across the board. This is good advise for any car owner.

http://cashatkia.blogspot.com/

Have a great Day