This Week's Picks Week Two

 

Here at Picks Central, a major event was announced.

Mrs. Picks and I are on deck to become grandparents in March of 2023.

My son and daughter-in-law told us before the Fourth of July and asked us not to post it on social media until they posted it. 

Young people are always telling us old folks about what we can and cannot put on social media. Of course, we can't help it if we think our social network needs to know what we had for lunch.

Some of us went forty-some-odd years without documenting our eating habits or how the knucklehead parked at the grocery store.

So, yes, there will be a baby around Picks Central. The baby is a boy, which means the Manis name will live on. 

There has been some discussion on our "grandparent's name."   In the old days, we called our grandmother "grandmother" and our grandfather "grandfather" like heathens. Now they go by names like "Pop Wop", "Moogie-Woogie",  "Pap-Poo-Paw",  "Sexy Granny", or whatever.

I figure the baby will eventually call us what he want to call us.

This Week's Picks

 

 

Dawgs vs Baptist Dawgs- UGA showed no mercy on The Ducks of Oregon. However, this is one of those games in which the Big Honkin' school takes on a smaller school for a beating and gives the smaller school some money.  Hey, Samford beat My Beloved Owls last week. Can they beat Georgia?  No.  Georgia wins.

 

 

Wrecked vs Directional Carolina University Tech takes on Western Carolina this week, which promises to be one of Coach Geoff's wins this year. They better, or there will be some buzzing bees Sunday morning.    Tech wins.

 

 

 

Bamy vs Texsass: Bama travels to Austin to play Texas. In another world, far, far away,  this would have been a monster game.  I just don't see it.  I think Bama will hook the horns.  Bama wins.

 

 

Jawja Suthern vs Huskers Of Corn: As you may remember, my son is a graduate of Georgia Southern University (Motto:  Hey y'all, watch this!) and I used to include the Eagles in my weekly picks. The Eagles have had some off years lately.  They had a coach last year I thought would be the next great Georgia Southern coach.   It turns out he wasn't. The players ran wild, including one that drank a beer on top of a moving school bus. (You had to be there)  There's a new head coach at Georgia Southern: Clay Helton. If that name sounds familiar to you, he was the Head Coach at The University of Southern California.  That's a pretty big deal. I wonder how he convinced his wife to move to Statesboro.   The Eagles will play Nebraska, which is a big deal, or it was a big deal. Nebraska has hit hard times and there's a lot of chirping from their fans.  If the Eagles can manage to win, the Cornhuskers will run Scott Frost out of Lincoln.   I'm too chicken. Cornhuskers win.

 

 

My Beloved Owls vs Skyline Chili University-My Beloved Owls were beaten by the Baptist Dawgs of Samford last week.  Now, they have to go to Cincinnatti and play the Bearcats.  As Lewis Grizzard once told me, "Hey, Shorty, would you move" "Never pick with your heart" or something like that. It was almost forty years ago. I'm going to be a grandfather and I have a fixed income.   Bearcats win.

This Week's Picks 2022

 

 

Well, here we are, back again! Another College Football season is here.

Looky here, as my dad would say: it is the 20th anniversary of This Week's Picks!

This Weeks Picks began as a topic on Wheeler Alumni.Com, which was for all of the sterling graduates of Wheeler High School. This was back when the internet was new, and there was nothing called "social media" (Facebook, or as the great Tater of Texas calls it, "Facebutt").

My idea was to have a little fun with the college football season, which I have noticed people take very seriously, at least here in the South.

It was popular on the site. I soon learned that Georgia Tech has the best football program in the world and there are algorithms to prove it. 

Well, as Bob Dylan said, the times they are a-changed.  I discovered that little ole me could have a blog and I could put that blog on Facebutt Facebook.

So, each fall since 2009, I've been sharing This Week's Picks  on Facebutt Facebook because I need content for my blog. 

College Football has changed since then. For example, there is a playoff system now.  Players also get paid by the "Name In Likeness" scheme.  A player, if he's good enough, can make a lot of extra change to pay for pizza if he is good enough. You would be surprised to learn that most of the players with hefty NIL contracts play for Alabama, Texas A&M and other SEC schools.  Just what amateur athletics needs:  Young men with a lot of money!

This Week's Picks!

Notice A School Missing?

Jawja vs Quackers:  When we last saw college football, we saw UGA defeat Alabama, as was foretold in the Book Of Revelation, proving there is a kind and loving God. Oregon has a new coach and only 420 different combinations of uniforms.  UGA lost a lot to the NFL, but this is an opportunity to prove that UGA is just reloading and not rebuilding.   Dawgs win!

 

 

Wrecked vs Clem's Son: Since Coach Geoff took over as head coach of The Yellow Jackets, his record is 9-25.  One of those wins was against my beloved Owls last year.   Tech schedule is pretty brutal and it looks like Coach Geoff will soon be able to use Mark Spain to sell his house.  Clemson wins.

 

Something To Think About

 

Bamy vs The School Of Paul Wickenhiser's Son:   Paul Wickenhiser is a guy I went to Wheeler with, and I think he was in my Latin class, but my memory is fuzzy because there's been a lot of Diet Cokes since then.  His oldest son went to Utah State. I must admit it is a beautiful school based on Paul's pictures on Facebutt Facebook.   Where was I? Oh yeah, football. I really don't see Bama losing anyone not named Georgia for a while.  Bama wins.

 

  Nicer Than Tuscaloosa

Ahia State vs. Our Lady: According to ESPN College Game Day, THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES have  99 players and all of them could win The Heisman Trophy at the same time.  You never really know how Notre Dame will play in an early big game.  The Ohio State wins.

 

 

Semi's vs Ellesyou: When Brian Kelly signed on as the new head coach at LSU, he spoke to the crowd at a basketball game in a Southern accent that was as bad as the little girl in The Shake-N-Bake commercial in the 70's, especially when he finished his speech with "Ann Ah helbed".  Despite all of this, he should help LSU after the trainwreck of Coach O (sounds like the title of a Gordon Lightfoot song).  LSU wins.

 

The Child's Age:  26

 

My Beloved Owls vs Baptist Bulldogs:  In Kennesaw State news, the Owls have joined a new conference, The ASUN.  I'm not sure what that really means, but I think it means they won't have to go up to New Jersey to play a football game.  This years, the Owls begin with Samford University, a Baptist school in Birmingham, Alabama. (Motto:  "A place where Baptists go to college".)  What the heck, Owls win.

The Orange Whale

 

One of the good things about Twitter is there are so many people that understand The Presidential Records Act and the powers of The National Archives.

It was DEFCON 1 on Fox News last Monday. (DEFCON 1 is the highest level of DEFCON-ness, with  DEFCON 5 being the lowest. I know because Peggy explained this to Burt Peterson on "Mad Men" one time. Don't tell me television is not educational.) The FBI raided or executed a search warrant on President Trump at his Mar-a-Largo resort in Florida. It caused a commotion if you haven't heard.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, the news was celebrated like it was D-Day. FINALLY! WE ARE GOING TO GET THE BIG FAT ORANGE RICH MAN WITH AWFUL HAIR! (Not a direct quote, but that was the general gist.)

My problem is I'm not an attorney. I have seen a lot of "Perry Mason" episodes, but none of them ever dealt with The Presidential Records Act. "Tell me, what did you see President Eisenhower put in the box to send to Gettysburg?"  (Historical note: Gettysburg was Eisenhower's Mar-a-Largo. What other blogs can you get rich historical tidbits like this?)

My point is I don't know how big of a deal the raid/execution of a search warrant is and I have a feeling most people (yes, Twitter, I'm looking at you) don't either.

I agree it is "unprecedented."  Reagan didn't send the FBI to Plains, Georgia, to find 15 boxes of peanuts or whatever. But a lot of things are "unprecedented".  

It is unprecedented to have a President as old as Biden, and it is unprecedented to know a President slept with a porn star. (I was going to mention President Bill and his trollop but then I remembered about President Warren Harding had a trollop. We still don't know what President James Buchanan had.)

It was unprecedented to have a President refusing to concede an election he obviously lost.  

Still, it is pretty stark to have the attorney general of another party approve the execution of a search warrant/raid on a former President for the Presidential Records Act.

I agree it is a law and President Trump should have followed the law. I just don't think the Justice Department is after "classified information".

I think this is a fishing expedition trying to find something to link President Trump to the January 6th riot besides him telling them in a televised speech to go down to The Capitol. 

They want to find a memo from Trump to the leader of The Proud Boys or whoever saying, "Go to the Capitol and mess things up or something. I don't care JUST DO IT! MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOUR GOING TO HANG MIKE PENCE."

If I'm wrong, and they really are that concerned with what Trump kept in Florida, they sure took their sweet time trying to get whatever it is back.

If Trump has some super secret documents that compromised the security of the United States, they need to tell us immediately, and it needs to be obvious.

Some people will say Trumpsters wouldn't admit it even if it was obvious. That's true. Some people don't acknowledge that Biden is too old to be President.

But it must be clear to the guy paying more for gas and groceries. This guy remembers 2019, and it wasn't that long ago.   He would put up with Trump if it meant he had some change in his pocket.

I remember early in the Trump Administration telling my wife I didn't know if Trump would be able to finish out the week as President, much less four years. What Trump calls "The Swamp" has been gunning for him for seven years, and they haven't stopped him yet. 

First, it was going to be Carly Fiorina. Then, it was going to be Marco Rubio. Then, it was going to be Mitt Romney. Then, it was going to be the "Access Hollywood" tape. Then, it was going to be "Russian Collusion." Then, it was going to be "impeachment."   Then, it was going to be the Capitol riots. On and on. (Don't get me started on the "Emoluments Clause" argument.)

It is not like he is "teflon"- everything sticks to Trump.  He's more like the T-1000 terminator in "Terminator 2".  Events and statements that would torpedo and sink any other politician, don't stop Trump. I can't explain it and I know the professional political class can't explain either.

It is hard getting a great white whale. Ask Captain Ahab. It turns out it is harder getting an orange one.

 

School Days

 

Up in the mornin' and out to school
The teacher is teachin' the golden rule
American history and practical math
You studyin' hard and hopin' to pass   ~ Chuck Berry

 

My memory is a little fuzzy, so stick with me.

When my son was young, school here in Cobb County, Georgia, started in the last week or so in August.

Then parents complained because the kids were in school for a week, and you had the Labor Day weekend, which parents used to go to either:  The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, or Alvin's Magic Mountain in Panama City Beach. 

The school board listened and started school a week earlier the following year.  Parents complained.

The year after that, the school board listened to the complaints and started school another week earlier, on the second week of August.

Parents complained and complained because the second week of August in Georgia is very, very hot.  

No problem said the school board. Our schools are equipped with the finest of air conditioners.

For the past couple of years, school has started in Cobb County on August 1st. 

Pretty soon, the school year will start on June 1st because we have air conditioners. Which is an offense against humanity.

I'm from that age demographic that says school should start on the Tuesday after Labor Day. (The parents of this demographic were the ones that went to school every day, including Christmas. And they walked three miles to school through rain, sleet, snow, hail, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions.  It was uphill, both ways.)

My demographic has The Bible on its side. 

The Bible says, "Verily, I say unto thee. Public schools must start on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Not the Wednesday or Thursday, thus saith The Lord."

 

Well, the explanations for the earlier school days range all the way from Shut-up to something about 180 days for school, and the kids forget so much during the What Used To Be Called Christmas Break But Is Now Called Winter Because Not Everybody Goes To A Baptist Church Break.

 

In fact, it seems like there are more breaks than I remember as a kid. Granted, it was a long time ago, but I don't remember a Fall break.  Wait, we had one. It was called Thanksgiving.

There's a mid-winter break, and then there is Spring Break. Do you remember Spring Break?  It is when all the Cobb County kids go to Panama City Beach to learn to binge drink. 

I remember my Spring Break. It was called "Mow The Yard, Alan."   My family didn't do breaks, and I wasn't popular enough to go with others to Florida.  On top of everything else, I looked like I was fourteen until I turned thirty-five, so I wouldn't have been any help scoring booze.

I admit I have bittersweet feelings about my public school education.  I had some great teachers, like my fourth-grade teacher who put on a sombrero and said, "Viva, Nixon."

I can't forget Mr. Collier from Wheeler, who was the only person to see me as a future leader when I had (still have) the leadership skills of a cocker spaniel.  It was still very nice of him and not his fault that I got blackballed from a service organization he recommended me for, not that I'm bitter.

I had the legendary Mr. Hines at Wheeler, who taught me the phrase "trousered apes," which I always remember when I see the band Florida-Georgia Line.

I had a bunch of good teachers, a bunch of so-so teachers, and a bunch of God-awful teachers.  I had a teacher tell the eleven-year-old me that I didn't have "what it takes" to play the recorder.  (My son always tells me to "let it go" when I tell him that story.)

When my son was coming along, I noticed his teachers were sort of like mine. Some excellent. Some good. Some mediocre. Some were absolute maroons.  I agree teachers should receive a good salary, but I would also say there are some teachers that are overpaid.

However, education has a lot of stuff it has to put up with, like making sure a fourth grader is called by the correct pronoun.  So I guess the earlier school starts the earlier it can finish makes sense.

 

A Sleep Study

 

For several years, I've heard these words daily:

WAKE UP!

My darling, lovely wife spoke these words.  It always happened after supper, when we were watching TV.  It didn't matter what was on. The Super Bowl. The World Series. Stranger Things. Nekkid And Anxious In The Woods. I would just simply, gradually, fall asleep. 

It really wasn't a big deal, except with my sleeping came very LOUD snoring as you would see in  cartoons. Sawing logs doesn't even begin to describe it.

My wife taped it once; I must admit, it was awful.  

However, it wasn't the worst. That would be from somebody I'll call Big Ron to protect his identity.

Once, when our sons were "little," the church had a retreat for the boys and their dads.  My son and I shared a cabin with Big Ron, his son, and some other lads with dads.

As soon as the lights went out, a noise came from where Big Ron had bunked. I cannot describe this noise except to say it sounded like a combination of a nuclear explosion and an angry bull.  I thought he was joking. Nope.  He was sound asleep.

I just thought I had become a smaller, more handsome version of Big Ron and developed a snore. But, hey, my wife married me for better or worse, and I thought the snoring qualified as the "or worse" part.

As the years went by, my wife would suggest that I mention it to my doctor because the snoring and the falling asleep were symptoms of a condition called Sleep Apnea.

Sleep Apnea is when your Apnea falls asleep. You need to have alert Apnea, particularly when driving in Atlanta.

Actually, Sleep Apnea is "a serious sleeping disorder when your breathing starts and stops while you slumber" (WebMD). It differs from regular snoring because of the breathing stopping and starting thing. 

The symptoms of Sleep Apnea are Nuclear Sonic Snoring, pausing for breath, choking or gasping, and restlessness.  Another symptom is your wife waking you up and telling you that you are snoring. 

Other signs of Sleep Apnea are Sleepiness during the day, restless sleep, sore throat, forgetfulness, and something else I forgot.  

If you have any of these symptoms, you must go to your PCP (primary care physician), so he/she can refer you to a pulmonary specialist because your insurance says this is cost-effective. 

Once at the pulmonary specialist office, you will meet the pulmonary specialist so the pulmonary specialist can order you a "sleep study," which is something only a doctor can do because the insurance says this is cost-effective.

My pulmonary specialist  (Dr. Hurt-really, that's her name) ordered my sleep study. Back in the olden days, you would have to go to the hospital and do it.  But today, they send a little gadget that you can put on your finger when you go to bed. 

The gadget must be attached to a finger on your non-dominant hand. If you are right-handed, like me, that means your left hand.   For some reason, you cannot wear jewelry when using this gadget to do a sleep study.  

I wear only one piece of jewelry-my wedding ring. Unfortunately, I could not get my wedding ring off. We tried everything, so I pleaded with the after-hours nurse to let me do the study on my dominant hand or let me do it with my wedding ring.

They allowed me to do the study on my non-dominant hand that had the wedding ring. Then, a week or so later, I had surgery: a wedding ringectomy performed by a local jeweler. 

My test showed that I had moderate to severe sleep apnea, and my doctor said I had three options:

• A continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP).
• Surgery.
• Some type of device that a Dental Surgeon has to make.

I went for the CPAP because it was more cost-effective, and I knew it would make me popular with the insurance company because they are into that saving money thing. 

My doctor cautioned me that something was going on about "the supply chain," which was working fine and dandy until 2020 appeared. Unfortunately, this meant there would be a "delay" in receiving my CPAP machine.   

That was the Monday after the Super Bowl.

The day after the Fourth of July, I noticed I hadn't received my CPAP machine. I called the doctor's office.  Lo and behold, the supply chain found a CPAP machine and I had to schedule an appointment to pick up my machine.

I went to pick up my machine. The office had several workers, including a  gentleman who has a CPAP machine and his wife loves it!

A guy was assigned to teach me the ropes of a CPAP machine.   Rule one: Press this button.

As my wife would say, it was so simple even Alan could do it. 

Now I am a man with a CPAP machine.  My results have been good, I guess. I sleep through the night, and my wife hasn't heard me snore.  I haven't fallen asleep watching television either.

 

My Apnea is awake.

 

Causal Summer Observations

 

 

I don't have one topic for this post.   

I have what's called in this business, by which I mean the industry of blogging, a blog of several observations because I can string a sentence or two about a topic, but I can't string a bunch of sentences into a blog post.  By the way, I saw "A Bunch Of Sentences" open for Kajagoogoo in 1983.  

A Smart car always looks dumb when it is in the wrong lane.

Once you realize that most people act like they did in high school, you learn to accept them as they are and let them go on with their bad selves.

I like saying, "go on with your bad self."

The kids of Hawkins, Indiana, have learned to cuss pretty well.

Season Four of "Stranger Things" features lots of cussing and lots of bone-breaking.

This isn't a spoiler, but Max of "Stranger Things" reminds me of one of my nieces.

I'm not sure how "Stranger Things" is going to end.  Probably everyone gets trapped in The Upside-Down, and Michael Dukakis is elected President Of The United States.

Speaking of streaming shows, we've started watching "The Offer" about making the classic movie "The Godfather."

Here's what I've learned about mobsters from "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", and "The Sopranos."

One, mobsters spend most of their time eating.

When they are not eating, they are arguing with each other.

When they are not arguing with each other, they are trying to figure out how to whack somebody.

When they do whack somebody, they go out to eat afterwards.

The rest of the day is spent cussing and committing adultery.

One of the characters in "The Offer" is Joe Columbo, a Mafia big wig who is offended by the portrayal of Italian-Americans in "The Godfather."  He started an organization called "The Italian-American Civil Rights League" to combat negative stereotypes about Italian-Americans.

In reality, it was a PR group  to deny the existence of The Mafia and "improve the image of Mobsters." (Wikipedia)

Do you know what would have improved the image of mobsters?  Less whacking.

One of the things I find annoying is a little trick used by hoo-de-do millennial and Gen-Z writers to take a topic and take a view totally opposite from general consensus.

For example, a young writer for one of those New York magazines, which is supposed to signal what everybody should think, tweeted that "Seinfeld" was not funny.

She clarified that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was great (of course!) and Jason Alexander had his moments.  However, Jerry Seinfeld could not act, and Michael Richards is a horrible person who should never be forgiven.

"Seinfeld" is overrated in the sense that it was not the BEST SITCOM EVER.  It was merely one of the best sitcoms ever.

I noticed this tendency a decade or so ago when I saw Millennials say The Beatles were overrated.  So were The Stones and the Eagles. 

I think some of the young people just like having a different opinion because it sets them apart from the crowd.

But as Tom Petty once said, "It's just taste, man."  If someone doesn't like The Beatles, it is no skin off my nose.

I just don't remember my generation sitting around saying, "Beethoven, he's okay, I reckon. I mean, I get DA-DA-DA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, besides that, meh."

If something's good, it's good no matter when it was made.

Finally, we saw the new movie about Elvis Presley.  It is a good, flashy movie. Tom Hanks, despite what you might have read, did an excellent job as Col. Tom Parker.

My only comment about Elvis is one from George Harrison.  He said, "When Elvis was great, he was really great."

Who's Next? Who Knows?

 

 

It was back in my first blog, Alan's Alley, that I made my first prediction about an upcoming Presidential election.

It was 2006, and I predicted the next President would be either John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or this guy from Illinois, Barack Obama.

 

Granted, it didn't take  Nostradamus to figure that one out. But I came back in 2011 and predicted Mitt Romney would win the Republican nomination.  I was right again because Republicans usually nominate the guy next in line. In 2008, that was McCain; in 2012, that was Romney.

In 2013, my psychic powers went kablooey. 

I predicted the Republicans would retake the White House with a blunt-talking fatty from a Northern industrial state:  Chris Christie.

I based this on something Chris Matthews said-the new President is always different from the last President.  Kennedy was young, and Eisenhower was old.  Carter wouldn't tell a lie, and Nixon, well, you know.  I thought, who is more different than Barack Obama besides Chris Christie.  

Oops.

I'll admit I didn't see the Donald Trump phenomenon coming. Sure, he was on TV every week and the show did quite well, but I didn't see him as Presidential timber at all.

 

Well, he won and we had four years of the Donald Trump experience which was real, as they say.

The Trump years ended like most things with Trump: badly. He took his obvious defeat like a big baby, practically ordering the Secretary of State of Georgia to find 13,000 votes. 

I knew Trump didn't have any facts on his side when he couldn't believe he lost Cobb County.  He lost Cobb County in 2016.

The talk now with the Washington Mainstream Media folks is Trump is a shoo-in for the GOP nomination in 2024. I can think some people that want Trump to take another swing at it:  The Mainstream Media, comedians, Democrats, and Stephen Colbert.  He gave them so much to talk about.

I think Republicans want somebody new in 2024.  I mean, we bought the World Of Trump and we got the t-shirt.  Do we want to go back?

I don't see it.  What I do see is Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.  DeSantis is from a middle-class background but graduated from one of those hoity-toity schools.  He was in the Armed Services.  He was born in 1978. Important historical fact: Biden was still in his first term as a senator and Trump was still married to his first wife when DeSantis was born.

Speaking of President Biden, I told everyone in 2020 that Biden was too old to be President.  I got that one right.

It is almost painful watching Biden trying to project being Presidential.   You may not have heard about a speech he gave when he signed an executive order where he repeated the teleprompter instruction like Ron Burgandy.  Oh, if only Johnny Carson were alive today. 

 

Biden's poll numbers are low.  How low are they?  They are so low that some Democrats (i.e., their wealthy donors) want Pete Buttigieg to replace Biden on the Democratic ticket.

Despite the fact that never in U.S. history has a Secretary of Transportation ever won the White House, much less a party's nomination for President, the idea that they would consider throwing Kamala Harris under the bus is astonishing. 

Kamala Harris is a person whose resume looked real good but her performance has been so-so, at best.  Still, you wouldn't deny her the nomination if Biden retires to the Old President's  Home. Would you?

And for Pete Buttigieg?  I know he was the mayor of the fourth largest city in Indiana, but his performance with the supply chain crisis has shown me that maybe he should have stayed in South Bend.

We have a problem with air travel. Apparently, we have a pilot shortage.  U.S. commercial airline pilots are forced to retire at 65 years old.

When Neil Cavuto suggested to Buttigieg that maybe the retirement rule be temporarily waived since there has been so much disruption of air travel during the 4th of July holiday.

Buttigieg said, "That regulation is there for safety reasons".  He went on to say, "I haven't seen any piece of information or data that would suggest that the reasoning has changed. And so I'm going to look at other steps that are not affecting safety."

The President of The United States is almost 80 years and he has direct access to nuclear codes.   I think that is a safety issue.

Additionally, it doesn't bother Buttigieg that school-aged children ride in buses with drivers over 65 years old. That seems to me to be a safety issue, too.

Isn't it ironic that this form of prejudice is tolerated?  When a pilot is 64, he can fly the friendly skies.  But one month later, when he is 65, he has to retire, or he might fly the Miami passengers to Detroit or into the side of a mountain.

So who do I think is going to win the Presidential election in 2024?  Who knows?

Sometimes we just close our eyes and pull one out of a hat.