I’m often accused by a few of my younger co-workers as being an “old man”. Of course, I’m 10 years older than they are, so I certainly remember many things they would not. And I’m often accused by my wife as sounding like a “grumpy old man” because I complain about things, but I only do so because I really do get frustrated by things that seem to follow no logic.

But outside of the occasional foot problem or back-ache, I generally have not FELT like an “old man”. To the best of my ability, I have remained fairly up to date with musical and “fashion” trends (that’s not to say I listen to the music or dress fashionably), and I remain interested in activities such as cycling and kayaking. I keep up with technology, and I believe with a little effort I am still within the realm of remaining on the “cutting edge” of trends.

I have to admit, though, that I sense a sea change in my life. Things are changing. And while I still don’t see myself as an “old man”, I DO sense the generational differences between myself and some of the others in my “circle”. To wit:

• I now drive a 40-year-old truck without power steering or A/C, and find myself enjoying it’s “simplicity”
• I find myself missing things from the past, such as Coke and beer in returnable glass bottles and the Charlie Chips truck
• Every time I fill up my gas tank, I recall when gas was 89¢/gallon. And I tell my wife about it.
• I told one of the guys today how I recalled when MTV and the local Top40 station came on air. I’ve told him before.
• Despite their popularity, I really don’t get “Hannah Montana” or “Fergie”, which sounds like “noise” to me
• I still listen to Motley Crue, Poison, and G-n-R and it doesn’t SOUND 20 years old to me
• I can’t drive more than 120 miles without stopping to pee
• I am repeating jokes I’ve already told
• We take our kids places, and are 5+ years older than some other parents with similar aged children
• I wish I could look at an ice cream truck and not think the driver was a pervert
• I desire enough acreage to raise some animals, and to perhaps own my own hardware store
• My ‘hobby’ of working with computers has become my ‘job’, which is now no longer my hobby
• I sometimes pass gas in public, because I can’t help it (I DO try to go off in a corner, though)
• I had to take the shocks and knobby tires off my Mt. bike because riding off road was too time consuming
• I find myself complaining about local politicians (and long for the days when I didn’t know who they were)
• I have to ask people to repeat themselves more often
• There are random hairs growing out of my ears (maybe that relates to the hearing?)

Now, those things aside, I KNOW I’m not THAT old… At 35, I can still run with the younger guys, too (when my foot isn’t hurting). But I can see the horizon and know that, soon, I’ll be driving “down hill” in my old truck. And you can bet I’ll stay in the fast lane and keep my left blinker on all the way. =)

Some days, you have to wonder where our society is headed. Today I have read TWO news articles, both of which demostrate the absolute lack of “personal culpability” that seems so common in our time. Unfortunately, parents are passing the misguided ideas of entitlement and lack of responsibility down to their children. The general social mores today seem to be “it’s never my fault” and “if you don’t like the outcome, sue someone”.

First up is your classic injury lawsuit. Apparently the family of a boy who suffered brain damage after he was struck by a line drive off an aluminum baseball bat has sued the bat’s maker (Hillerich & Bradsby Co.) and others on Monday, saying they “should have known it was dangerous”. The “others” include Little Leage Baseball, not because it was a LLB sanctioned game (it was not), but because they endorse the bat that was used!

Now, pardon me if I say “WHAT?!” Did the boy’s parents not realize that baseball can be dangerous? That there is an inherent risk in ANY sport? I would certainly be reeling if something like this happened to my child, but I also believe I would be sensible enough not to sue the bat maker and other uninvolved parties. A more sensible approach might be to lobby to require that little league pitchers wear some form of chest armour to protect them while they are young. That would carry more weight, because statistics show those children (5-12) are more likely to be hurt by batted balls. Apparently this is not new, and there are a lot of misconceptions about metal bats. You can read about them here and here.

The second story I would like to share is about a girl who is accused of plotting to murder a 13-year-old classmate is suing the school system because she was placed in an alternative school. Apparently it offers an “inferior” level of education, and stifles her educational growth. The plot involved two others (including a 19yr old), and had reportedly been planned to the point of determining where they would dispose of the body, and what their alibies would be. But the girl’s parents, in their infinite wisdom, believe that it’s OK for her to attend school with the child she threatened. They argue that she should not have been moved since the incident did not happen at school. I believe in “innocent until proven guilty”, but there is definitive evidence in this case. Just crazy.

Certain stories just leave you standing slack-jawed and pondering whether the gene pool can survive much longer.

After over-enjoying a pizza buffet with Emily and the kids for lunch today, I wanted to make up for the lost workout. So when I got home tonight, I “suited up” and hit the road on the bike. Two minutes out the door, it started raining on me. It was steady enough to get me, the bike, and the road nice and wet, but I figured I’d stick it out.

Near the house, there are some railroad tracks that cross the road. About 15 minutes into my ride, I came to these tracks and proceeded to cross. The hard part is these particular tracks run diagonal to the road. Hearing a car not far behind me (it ended up turning off the road), I angled and tried to cross the tracks as straight across as I could. Unfortunately I didn’t get it square enough. The front tire slipped a bit, and the trench between the steel track and the pavement caught my front tire. At nearly 15mph, I was slammed to the pavement.

Fortunately, I’ve learned how to protect my bike over the years so that I’m usually the one that comes out worse for the wear. There are some heavy scratches/digs in the bar ends, and it loosened up the handle bars a bit, but the rest of the bike appears to have fared well. As far as I can tell, the front wheel is still round. So the crash shouldn’t cost me anything other than pride. Unfortunately, I received a nice case of road rash on the calf, knee, left thigh, and elbow. It’s funny how your clothes don’t rip sometimes, but you still end up looking like someone attacked you with a cheese grater. It took me a few minutes to scrape myself off the road, but an oncoming car inspired me to move a bit faster.

I didn’t let this little trial divert me from my mission, though. Instead of returning home, defeated, I rode another 7 miles out of spite. I realize it’s not the Tour de France, but I’m sure Lance Armstrong would’ve done the same thing. At least I was able to turn it into a “this is why we wear our helmets” lesson for the kids. =)

Last week, I had the opportunity to see the movie “Iron Man” as part of a vendor-sponsored event at a local theater. That means in order to see the movie (for free!), I had to sit through a 2.5 hour presentation. Of course, they fed us danish and coffee prior, and popcorn and coke during. And our rep took me to lunch afterwards, so I can’t complain. Oh, and I won a cheap t-shirt, too! LOL! The presentation was OK, but it turns out I had seen most of the content before.

For the most part, I’ve never really been a “superhero comic book” guy. Sure, I enjoyed some Superman comics, as well as Archie, GI JOE, and perhaps a smattering of Spiderman and Fantastic Four. But I was never a collector, and never really sorted out all the good guys from the bad guys. I consider characters like Iron Man, Ice Man, The Flash, Green Lantern, etc. to be “minor” superheros (because Superman could kick all their butts). But I have enjoyed the movie versions of most of these.

Anyhow, I really wasn’t expecting much from this movie, other than perhaps to see a half-dazed Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man) try to reinvigorate his career. So I was surprised to see that Downey did a great job, along with Terrence Howard (Jim Rhodes), Jeff Bridges (Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts). I was particularly impressed with Jeff Bridges, who has a whole new look in this movie as a bald guy with a beard. I won’t give away too many details other than to say it was jam packed with action, was pretty funny (typical comic book style one-liners), and had good music. Certain elements were a bit implausible, but it’s a movie about a comic book character so don’t set your expectations on realism. 

Even if I had paid, it would have been worth it. And I don’t say that just because it’s the only movie I’ve seen in a theater since… well… I can’t remember. But once it comes out on DVD, I’ll probably rent it again just to see what I may have missed. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out!

So when you go and get or renew your driver’s license in Indiana, they ask “Would you like to register to vote?” (or at least, there’s a check box on the form).

Well, apparently responding “Yes” or checking the box does NOT mean you are actually registered.

Even though I was registered under my old address - I know this because I had no problems voting previously - it turns out I was not. In mid-to-late 2006, I went to the BMV to have my license changed to reflect our new address. I checked the box, informed the clerk “yes”, etc.

Well, I went to vote this morning and… surprise! My name is not on the list! I’ve been registered to vote since high school, but somehow I’m not signed up for this election?! It figures. The first time an Indiana vote in a Presidential primary has mattered since the late 60’s, and mine is screwed up. So I had to file a near-worthless provisional ballot, which probably won’t matter unless there’s a tie.

The people at the BMV sometimes act like people aren’t supposed to bother them, so in a way this shouldn’t surprise me. But I can’t help but feel I was denied a basic right in a round-about way. I was told by the folks at the polling place that this isn’t the first time or first election in which they’ve had this problem.

Also… I went to http://www.indianavoters.com/ and checked my registration status. Performing a “Search by Voter Registration” search using just my name and birth date, it returned my proper polling location. It appears I am registered, so why was I not on “the list”?

UPDATE: I just contacted the Clark County Voter Registration office, and was informed that I had been marked “cancelled” for some reason. The lady on the phone was very helpful. She checked and confirmed that I HAD in fact voted in 2004, and reiterated what I had been told with regard to the BMV messing up the registrations. She said they would do some research and mark it as an error and get me reinstated for November.