HOW SWEET IT IS

Hey Now:
That's right. How sweet it is for us Mets fans who get to continue watching our team in the Playoffs, while the Yankees fans are left to wonder and speculate how and why their team's season fell apart at the worst possible time. Now I'm not saying that the Mets will win the Series, let alone get by the Cardinals. But it's fairly heady stuff for right now.

It was actually a pretty good weekend, sports-wise for me, as the Mets advanced, my KC Chiefs grabbed their second win of the year, and my Fantasy team won a nail-biter to put me at 3-2 in my league. Sometimes you get a week of football, or sports, hell. This is where your favorite team loses, your fantasy team loses, and you get your ass handed to you betting with a bookie. Then there are weeks when everything falls into place and you win. Fortunately for me, I don't bet football anymore because I experienced more weeks of hell than heaven. A man's got to know is limitations, ya know?

KIM JONG IL
I typed the North Korean madman's name in shit-stain brown because he is just scum. Is he trying to convince people he has large balls? Is he hopped up on steroids and testosterone? Is he just plum-loco crazy? Is he trying to just show defiance because he hates our way of life? Does anyone know the answer to this? Maybe he got tired of us and the rest of the world powers laughing at him, so he decided to show some force and create a palpable menace. Like Khadaffi from Libya and other crazies from around the planet, he seems to want to prove a point because he doesn't want his people to flourish freely. Dictators are typically like this, it seems. And it continues to amaze me that these guys keep trying to push things, even after they have it proven that they cannot win. Dictators are evil and corrupt. The only dictator who has survived and has not incurred the wrath of the world is Castro. But then again, he doesn't try to pose a threat to the free nations of the world.

Perhaps Kim Jong Il feels as if he's been pushed around by the free, capitalist nations to the point of not being able to take it anymore. Kind of like a person who commits a horrendous act of violence (like a school shooting, or a postal worker kooking out, etc...) when they've been pushed to the breaking point. Who knows? I'm sure most people believe his mind has gone round the bend. Maybe he's trying to get back at an abusive father, or something. Who knows?

Most people would suggest sending a team of CIA-type assassins to knock him off. It didn't work with Khadaffi or Osama Bin Laden, so far. And I can understand their point, even to the point of agreeing that this guy has to go. But then there's the argument that an act like that makes us sink to the despot's level. It also makes us look like the world bully, "Do and act as we say, or we'll just kill ya." Regardless of what your opinion is, we probably all agree that something should be done. Cause if he were to start showing serious force, like attacking, say, Japan, we wouldn't be able to get all those nice electronic items that we've just got to have.

AMTRAK CONTINUES TO SUCK
Things continue to suck at the railroad. It's bad enough that the workers have not had a contract or a raise since December of 1999 (that's almost 7 years.....you try getting along like that). But now the facility that I work at has a General Foreman/Asst. Facility Manager who is out of control in his lust for power. It doesn't help that he, as a short person, has a whopping Napoleon Complex . But he has now started to go out of his way to prove he holds all of the cards by looking for reasons to fire anyone who steps out of line. It's gotten to the point that if someone takes a lost-time injury, this guy is trying to find a way to turn the injury around and showing it's the injured person's fault, to the point of having them taken out of service.

I have started to liken this guy to Kim Jong Il, as his power lust has gotten out of control. A man got in trouble for punching people's time cards in, so they would not be late. While I agree that it's not the best idea to do that, the General Foreman has actually tried to get the people whose cards were punched, to make a statement saying that they gave the guy permission to punch their cards. He is doing this to try to trick these people into making a mistake for which they could be fired. How do you like that. This GF used to be a Foreman, and wasn't really a bad guy. Now, he has turned into an evil bastard, bent on putting people on the street, jeopardizing their families' well-being, all to prove that he is the man in power.

Around a year ago, this guy came into some money and bought himself a small, convertible, Italian sports car. It reminds me of a Barbie car. I live in hopes that one day when he gets out of his car, that a giant Milwaukee's Best beer can drops out of the sky and crushes him, like in the commercial. If you haven't seen this series of commercials for Milwaukee's Best (the can drops out of the sky and crushes some hapless guy who is showing a softer side of himself, and the narrator says, "Be a Man. Drink a Man's Beer), you can see them on ESPN during the broadcasts of the World Series of Poker. They're pretty funny. And, I don't think it's alot to ask to see this happen in real life to this GM, who seems to take delight in screwing with people's lives, while driving around in his Barbie sports-car. I think certain people feel that just because they don't work at the Post Office, that an act of violence couldn't happen to them. And in truth, no truly rational person would do that. But sometimes you can push people too far. And then when the act of violence happens, the victim gets a look on their face like, "Why did this happen? What'd I do?, What's I do?"

CONNOR TURNS 13
My older son, Connor, will turn 13 this Friday. It's really amazing how fast time flies. I have pictures in my locker at work, of him at the Great Escape Amusement Park when he was 2 or 3. I see the picture now of his cute, chubby cheeks and happy smile and I just want to kiss and hug him over and over. I know this would embarrass him. It's funny and ironic how when your kids are very small, you want them to grow up. And when they grow up you wish they were small again so you could hold them and have them fall asleep on your chest on a cool Spring day. That was one of my favorite things. Falling asleep on the couch with one of my small boys on my chest or next to me. If you're someone with small children, cherish those feelings and moments now. And keep those feelings embedded in your memory. Cause soon enough you'll find that your kids don't want to hang around with Mom and Dad, and you'll miss it terribly. Make sure you tell your kids you love them and give them hugs on a daily basis. Cause one day you'll feel an emptiness because they're not around anymore. Cherish your time with your kids and make sure it counts.

LEN IS RIGHT, people, you know it's true. You have yourself a nice week.

I am,
Len Tollerton