Margret Sloan

I cannot tell you the last time I went to the store and bought a newspaper. I get my news from TV and the internet. The only good thing that comes in the newspaper anymore are the store flyers and coupons over the holidays. Other than that, the Tennessean sucks – almost no actual scoops or news. Just a lot of bias and opinion, advice that I don’t want, and a rehash of stuff I already read online the night before. And their web site is crap, too. Forget about breaking news coverage from the newspaper – it’s all old news by the time the paper is printed and hits the streets.

Why are we so superstitious? Just because a day of the week falls on the monthly calendar with a date that people have deemed unlucky is no reason to freak out. For hundreds of years the date, Friday the Thirteenth, has been considered an unlucky day and date, so people go to extreme to protect themselves against the bad luck of that day. Well, some people think that 13 is a lucky number. So while some are fretting all day, others are celebrating. How strange this modern life!

Last year the California fires making the news were the southern California wildfires. All around Los Angeles and San Diego there were dozens of major fires that took months to put out. Even the upscale and exclusive Malibu Beach area lost multi million dollar homes to the fires. People were being forced to leave their homes and camp out at the San Diego football stadium for over a week while firefighters battled to save entire neighborhoods.

This year it is northern California, with over 1,000 fires burning today and the news shows airing clips of officials crying for helping – they don’t have enough manpower or resources to even show up at all the fires burning, most of them caused by lightning strikes over the past several days.

It’s hard to imagine that areas so close to the Pacific ocean are suffering from severe drought this early in the summer season and that dry trees and brush all over the far western states is a waiting tinderbox.

There’s no way I could ever agree to make California my state of primary residence. There are just too many natural disasters waiting to take your property and your life. It’s a nice place to visit, but I’ll never live there.

Is it just me or does some “expert” come out every dang summer and announce that flip flops are bad for your feet? Personally, I’m sick of “experts” making broad generalizations on things in my daily life and then not being held accountable for their proclamations when proven wrong.

Like the “experts” who every year predict that this coming year will have lots of terrible hurricanes. Well, duh. Every year does have the chance that there will be terrible hurricanes, and if a hurricane happens to rip through your own neighborhood then you most likely will be calling that hurricane terrible and a few other choice names. But the fact is that not every year has terrible hurricanes, some years are worse than others.

I like flip flops. I have been wearing them since a little kid and they are my footwear of choice during the hot summer months and certainly better than going barefoot. There is not much difference between a pair of cheap flip flops and expensive designer thongs sandals other than the “design” and the price tag. I really don’t see how flip flops can be bad for my feet when I’ve been wearing them every summer for over 50 years.

Saw a short headline yesterday that the NFL is going to give Pacman Jones a break and reinstate him with limitations. What a bunch of sissies that run today’s “pro” league! The integrity has evaporated and it’s nothing but money money money anymore.

I’m going to join in at work with all the NFL pick ‘em games and maybe even join a fantasy team this year. The corruption in the league is getting so obvious that even I can predict the winners of every game, so I might as well make some money off it, too.

Found a website called Addict Sports that has bulletin boards for discussions on the different sports and even has college and NFL football picks on their site. Registration is free and there is a ton of information for people serious about picking the winners when this year’s preseason “games” start up again in August.

Look out, boys! Marge is playing for your money this year!