U S A! U S A!

There isn't much gloom and doom that a little summer can't fix. Or if not fix, then at least make palatable.
After a week of worrying about the outward rippling of the oil spill and the headed-in-the-wrong-direction stock market, I looked up from pitting cherries and saw the World Cup ahead. And it beckoned like a platter overflowing with pork bacon.
Ahh, football. Nothing soothes the pain like football.
And this has been a particularly good weekend for it.
Let's start with the Wizards. They hadn't been exactly a source of joy the past few outings, after a two-month string of losses and ties. But things were looking up Thursday when we went out to see them against the Philadelphia Union.
They stomped the Union 2-0. And it's a good thing, too, because if they hadn't, we'd have been really screwed.
Philadelphia is an expansion team that's only been playing since March. Needless to say, they haven't had much time to get it together. Add to that the fact that they have--hands down--the ugliest kits ever. Vomit- (or maybe Boy Scout-) colored khaki with a dark stripe up the front shows every least bit of sweat. Amazingly, I could not find a picture of a player in uniform on the net. But here's one from a merchandise web site:
They'd have to be dispirited. But we'll take the win, anyway.

Then the World Cup. Three games per day for a couple of weeks, until the group stages are over. And I could watch every one of them. I really could.
We watched the US tie England today with a raucous crowd at the Power & Light District. (And are happy and relieved to come away with 1-1, after a very, very lucky mistake by England's keeper.)
I'd never been to the P&L before, and I was, frankly, a little worried about going. All I'd ever heard to this point was about how strict the dress code is, and how the area has a whole list of deportment dos and don'ts. It sounded a little like going to Sunday school. What would happen if I accidentally swore? (A definite possibility.) I pictured a security guard propelling me by the elbow, telling me never to come back. (It turns out I needn't have worried. On our way out, McFadden's was pumping a song out onto the sidewalk with the refrain, "F**k, yeah!.")
It all got me thinking how we've come a long way since the last World Cup. Four years ago, when we attended a watch party, it was at the Chief's Arrowhead indoor practice facility. At the time, Mike and I bought jerseys, convinced it would be our last chance because the Wizards were for sale and we'd soon lose them.
This year, we're watching at the Power & Light and celebrating progress on a new soccer-specific stadium in KCK.
Four years ago, few of our daughter's teammates parents paid much attention to professional soccer or the World Cup. Today, most of them went to parties all over town to watch the match.
A lot's been wrong the past couple of years. Layoffs, oil spills, hazardous products, greedy corporations.
But today I'm thankful that appreciation of football is on the rise.
For a change, something is going in the right direction.

Ugh. Tired.

Too tired to post today or yesterday. If you're wondering why, come visit at Mike & Roxie's Vegetable Paradise.

Gloomy Boomies

Ahem, as I was saying...
Yesterday I was distracted by the YouTubes as I sat down to write about an article on baby boomers and happiness that I saw in the Kansas City Star. Today, I'll stay more on point.
The story, written by Amy Sheridan, attracted my attention because of the headline: Come on, baby boomers, get happy.
Sheridan marvels that the so-called Baby Boom generation has a gloomier outlook on life than other generations, as measured by the Pew Research Center. What followed was the newspaper equivalent of a hearty slap on the back and a "Smile, why dontcha?!"
Her words: "Happiness and satisfaction can be yours today, right now. All you have to do is decide to be happy." Then she peppered us with the usual claptrap from the happiness industry. Learn to laugh at yourself. Treat yourself to fun clothes. Get involved!
I've been reading this stuff from so-called happiness experts for months now. Are others benefiting from it? Because it doesn't help me a bit. It's a little like the doctor who tells you to lose weight after you've been trying and trying, but doesn't offer any ideas on how. Or the financial adviser who says "You don't have enough income. You need to make more money."
So I looked up the Pew Study and found:
A) That it was taken in early 2008, a few months before the big economic panic.
B) That despite our supposedly high incomes, we are worried about finances.
C) That we've been gloomy since our 20s and that the folks at Pew seemed genuinely puzzled by it all.
All I can say is that if baby boomers were more worried than the rest of the population back before even Bear Stearns folded, then that proves we're smart. We totally called it.
And we've been reading other indicators right as well. Maybe more younger people are getting laid off, but don't tell me we shouldn't worry until we see who gets hired back. A lot of people in their 50s have dependents still at home, mortgages, elderly parents and a long life ahead of them. And they're spending more time out of work. Each year they spend unemployed makes them one year older and less hireable, because of the ageism that is rampant in this country. (If you're still unclear, read this letter from the Kansas City Star.)
The Pew researchers spent some ink wondering why a generation that supposedly has had it so soft would have such a low expectations. I'd like to take a crack at that one, too.
The 60s weren't only hard on the "greatest generation." They were hard on us, too. Just as we were reaching adulthood, our president lied, cheated and resigned. Our older brothers were dying in a murky war we didn't understand. People were screaming at each other over race. And we knew the world expected no less than that we'd somehow top the feat of putting a man on the moon.
And after the 60s? There hasn't been a single year that our generation wasn't blamed for something. The coming Social Security fund crisis. The increase in household debt. The bubble in home prices. Low productivity. Mouthy latchkey kids. Loose morals and teen pregnancy. Coarsening of the culture. All the Baby Boom's fault.
Given all that, I'd say gloominess is a perfectly reasonable reaction.

There's more that bothers me about this piece, though. It's the source. The Star's tag line mentions that Amy Sheridan is the founder of The Baby Boom Network, an on-line group dedicated to the well-being of this generation.
So I looked up the web site. What the Star's tag line failed to include is that Sheridan is also selling us something. A book, (on stress-free aging) an online course on optimism and of course, her services as a presenter and motivational speaker. Her "articles" are just a way to draw in business. Here's a quote from one of those "article" ostensibly about baby boomer statistics:
"Your goal is to be aware that there are many different options open to you and that you should take advantage of the services and products specifically being developed for you." (italics mine)
This is sneaky, very sneaky, because it so subtly crosses the line between a genuine news story and an ad. It's an article of dubious value in the space usually reserved for features, in the same font and headline style as FYI's other features. But it's written by someone trying to draw in customers.
Here's why this is a bad thing. Let's say you're a reporter and your father owns a large department store in town. And you want to write a story about something department-store related, say, pricing policies. No matter how fair you are or promise to be, most papers will not let you do it. It creates a doubt in readers' minds. You could be soft on your dad's store. You could be trying to drum up business. Doesn't matter if it's true. The doubt is all that matters.
Exactly the same thing is going on with Sheridan's piece. This is ethically wrong and I'm very disappointed in the Star for running it.

A case of the Mondays

I was all set to write about an item I read in the Kansas City Star today headlined "Come on, baby boomers, Get Happy." I have all the links tabbed across the toolbar, ready to go. Because if there's anything that makes me want to bring the caustic, it's a rah-rah headline like that.
Sort of reminded me of that Office Space line, "Someone's got a case of the Mondays."
And it's here I veered a little off course. I went to YouTube, and typed in "case of the Mondays," to illustrate my point.
And came across this:




Have I been regretting the fact that I left cubicle land (which is increasingly what daily newspaper offices look like) to be at home with my kids? And that I now feel stuck and poor because there are no jobs and I've been out of the office workforce too long and nobody wants to hire anyone over 50?
I apologize. These films, apparently from security cameras, really bring back the memories. The desk pounding, the wastebasket kicking, the obscenities. We never had any actual fighting, though a couple of guys had some finger-poking-on-chest action over semantics. (Are you calling me an a**hole? No, I said don't be an a**hole.)
Ah yes, I remember the anger. It's funny to look back on, but was absolutely no fun at the time. That part, I don't miss at all.
So, despite my intention to blast away at Amy Sheridan's piece on baby boomers, I ended up feeling better about my life's choices.
But don't think I've forgotten, miss "licensed mental health counselor and trainer." Meet me here tomorrow, and we'll finish our business.

I crow, you crow, we all crow for escrow

My mission to control the nonstop freaking out over financial issues continues. It has not been easy, let me tell you. But I do find that the teachings of the Dalai Lama about taming one's mind have something to offer me.
Example: Two things in the mail today. First, a notice from ACS, which handles one of our college loans, saying we're overdue by a month. This despite the fact we've had no notices that the newly negotiated payments were starting back up again. Or what date they were due.
I went straight to anger, as usual. What do they mean overdue? Where was our paper or electronic notice? What do they think they're trying to pull?
Then despair. How will we ever get out of this black financial hole? We're stuck. We don't deserve a trip this summer.
Later, though, we found ACS was glad to correct the situation, send us a notice and restart the payments so we wouldn't start a month behind. All my emotions were unwarranted. Fail.
The second was a notice of telling us we have a $500+ shortage in escrow.
I will be as a stone. I will be as a block of wood.
$500? Really? But yes. According to Wells Fargo, our payment will go up by $30 a month if we pay it as a lump sum, or $74 a month if we use their 12-month plan working the shortage into the payments.
This is perplexing. Last year's escrow shortage was just over $250. I can't remember ever having a shortage of more than $350. What gives?
I can't imagine taxes went up by that much. So maybe it's the insurance. And what's insurance doing with increases by that much in such bad economic times?
I will be as a quiet pond. I will be as a granite statue.
Ahhh. I guess we'll just have to do some digging and find out.