What the Red Sox Mean to Me

The Red Sox mean I am lying on my grandmother’s bed, and I am only six. I am breathing in the smell of popcorn, too heavy with butter and salt, and watching the glowing screen on the dresser. She wears her concern well, and occasionally lets loose with a barrage of curses. She has been passionate this way since she was a child, and some would see a Hyde where Jekyll was all they had known. Her father was with her when she was watching the Red Sox game. You see, because of the Red Sox, my grandmother had never grown up like the rest of us had to.

The Red Sox mean I am with my family. They mean that those that I hold dearer than myself are present, in body or spirit. What looks to you like a large green wall is a family story that dates back long before I was born.

The Red Sox mean that it is okay to swear, no matter how old you are.

The Red Sox mean that we all fail. We all can try our hardest, and fail, and it is still okay. We can push as hard as we are able, and still not make it, but our friends and family will still be there to catch us and cheer us on the next time.

The Red Sox mean perseverance. After trying so hard, and failing for so long, and wishing for so long, we can succeed; when we do our celebration will be epic. That celebration will always come.

The Red Sox mean I am home. Even when I am five thousand miles away, I am still home. I can still feel my mother’s arms around me, holding me tight in anticipation as that pitch is thrown. I can see my grandmother’s tears. I can see her father in them, even though we never met.
For me, the Red Sox mean 178 Villa Street. I am transported to that home I grew up in whenever I watch the Red Sox, whether I am in Germany or Arizona.

The Red Sox mean mortality. Those that are gone are still here. Their graves are empty. They roam between us, watching and waiting. They are felt around us as we are cheering – or cursing. Those that have left are still felt when we watch. The mere watching resurrects them; I can recall the feeling of my grandfather in the house. I can recall the dark basement, lit only by the television and my family’s pulses. Those I watch the Red Sox with now, and those that watch with me, will live forever in my soul each time I watch the Red Sox. I will live in that as well, and someday, long after I die, I will sit with my son and grandchildren, and watch on as they watch the Red Sox play.

Picture taken from http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/image-files/red-sox-baseball.jpg

Did you know?

Did you know that Iraq’s electrical and sewage systems were largely non-operational by the summer of 2004, and now, a year later, have lost roughly another 50% of their operational capabilities?

Did you know that the government only counts American casualties that occur in Iraq? They do not count the dozens of hundreds that died en-route to Landshtul, Germany for treatment – nor do they count those that die days/weeks/months later from complications of injury.

Did you know that close to 100,000 Iraqis have died from combative violence since our invasion of said Sovereign nation?

Did you know that Halliburton has had reported record profits every year since our invasion began?

Did you know that women - whom before the invasion held a number of professional positions such as doctors, nurses, engineers, etc. – now no longer are able to hold those positions for fear of the radical Muslims that largely control Iraq? Women now have less freedom than before we invaded.

Did you know that Iraq’s constitution, which we have sacrificed close to 2,000 reported American children for, will impose and enforce the Muslim law code of Shaa? In this fundamentalist code, which was followed by Taliban Afghanistan and is followed by Iran, women must wear Burkas, cannot speak in public, cannot travel alone, and if raped, would be sentenced to death unless they can provide three direct witnesses to the crime?

I guess the whole main point is this…

Did you know that things have only gotten worse since we started, and continue to erode as time goes on, leaving us with a mounting pile composed of the corpses of American children, Iraqi children, women, and men…all to destabilize one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East, leaving it open to take-over by radical Islam in the form of a Constitution that enacts Shaa Law? We sent our sons and daughters to die to topple the Taliban, only to send more sons and daughters to die in order to prop up the same form of government in Iraq – a type of government that is unwanted by many Iraqis.

Also, just a side note….

For those that say, “We have to stay the course and fight to win so that we honor those that have died!” I say go to hell with your circular, blood thirst-fed, warmonger, brain-dead reasoning. So, you are saying, “Many have died, and so we have to let more die.” That’s ridiculous…and so I say…

Did you know that no war has ever, in written human history, been won by an organized force fighting against a guerilla army?

The point is that many have died, and so we must send more to die until the point is reached upon which we will retreat, as a guerilla army cannot be defeated; at which point, civil war will occur and Iraq will descend into even more chaos than it is in currently. The only difference is, twice the number of casualties will have been weighed down upon us. I say it will be for naught; let us leave NOW while the next of our children is yet to die…not afterwards.

picture taken from http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/wiki/images/1/13/Tears.jpg

There is Nothing You can Do

Really. There is nothing you can do. They say a person can make a change, but is that really true anymore in the Warholian Nightmare of a world we live in? There is nothing to do; even when the chance to gain the spotlight comes, it fades so quickly as people lose interest that no change can truly be accomplished. Even Cindy Sheehan, the mother protesting down at Crawford Ranch, really has no hope. Short of an armed revolt by thousands of people, which by the way would be quickly squashed allowing a military state the excuse to garner complete control, there is nothing we can do. The machine is too gluttonous. Nay, it is not a glutton any longer. It is gorged; fat, obese, giant, gargantuan, overwhelming. It used to be, not so long ago, a person could throw their life on the line to stop up the gears; Gandhi, M.L.K.Jr., Malcolm X, John Lennon. But now, it has gotten so big, that not even a person can stop it. To go further into the reality in which we live, I would say that slowing it is not even possible. Protesting, screaming, yelling, hunger striking, self-immolating...they are all empty gestures. The only way to get something done is to get involved with the machinery directly, and the only way to do that is to have already sold your soul to it.

Our situation is hopeless.

Or is that just how they want us to feel?

Picture taken from http://www.sfu.ca/adm/gear.3.jpg

Trees and Seeds

We are each as trees. We grow at our own pace. We should plant ourselves firm in the ground we occupy, not hurrying to spread our canopies further than they are at present. We should not insist that others do so either. A person's leaves may have grown brightly green, with long branches, straining out to reach each point they can, absorbing all the sunlight and air that they can with each moment, astounding the trees around them all the while.

But other trees stand small, brown, with few leaves with which to amaze. Some balk at such trees, "Grow faster! Grow taller! Grow quicker! Grow further up and out! Grow, grow, grow!" These trees may, and these trees may not. But we are not to place the weight of our comparisons to the mighty elms and oaks upon them. Let them grow in their own season. Do we question the frail, brown, dry mimosa when it sits year-round with not much to show? We do not, for we know that when it's season comes, and the spring air arrives, it will flourish and bloom a most beautiful bouquet of sights and colors, the likes of which are incomparable. The same applies to the other small trees. They may not have a season, but a year. And when it arrives, they, too, may flourish as a mimosa in March. But they also may not. They may sit there, unassuming, and unnoticed by those around them; but a small twig poking up from the dirt. The foolish may say, "This is a useless thing!" But the fool is the sayer, who cannot see the roots beneath, reaching down, drawing gently from the earth, and returning vital nutrition to the earth, which provides a means of sustenance to the purple tree blooming brightly beside. Or it may not. It may offer nothing now, and ever. But each thing in its own place, for its own reason, not for us to chide.

Picture taken from http://www.michigan.gov/images/MDA_RadishSeedSprout_03_61026_7.jpg

Oh, the Irony of a Name! Service Time Air Conditioning

Long story short, our AC unit went out on us last Tuesday. Mind you, we are in Phoenix, Arizona and have a two year-old son. It has been hot here lately, to say the least. A record twenty-plus people have died from heat-related causes over the last couple of months alone.

We contacted Old Republic, our home warranty company, in order to get this fixed. I knew that when they told me they would notify the company they used (Service Time Air Conditioning-Heating-Appliance, located at 2908 W. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ, #602 298 1633) - and that said company would be getting in contact with me within a half an hour, and that it was only after my calling them after over an hour of not hearing from them - I should be worried.

First off, they weren't even able to get a technician out to look at the unit until Friday, the fourth day after they got my work order. "But sir, we're extremely busy now!" Blah blah blah. I'm sorry, but if you can't handle the normal summer conditions for the area you operate in, in a timely manner (especially in cases where people are dying), then maybe you should rethink your business methods. And so I paid the forty dollar deductible to the technician just to have him spend five minutes on my roof looking at the AC unit. No money, no service. In this case - Some money, hardly any service. But money is the oil that lubes the machine of this society, as we all know.

I call as the tech is leaving, and Service Time (oh, the irony of a name!) says that they will call to get authorization right away from Old Republic for payment for parts, and will call me as soon as they hear anything. This is around one PM, Friday afternoon. I wait...and wait...and wait...until about four PM comes around, and I call them. Notice how not once, so far, have they called me to update me, but it has always been me having to call them for status updates? Long story short again, and they basically say, "Our person is on the phone with Old Republic right now, we'll call you to let you know we have authorization." I worry that it's close to five PM, their closing time, but for some reason have faith in Service Time. After all, they told me they are open Saturday, and can order the part then if Old Republic is slow.

And I am punished for my faith.

No call from them Friday evening, and so I wait, hoping they will call me Saturday morning. Saturday rolls around, and we're on the fifth day of living with family. I wait a good hour after Service Time's opening hour, and still no call from them. So, once again, I call them. They say they are waiting for authorization. I'm completely confused by this point about the whole process, and call Old Republic. I tell them that Service Time said they talked to you last night to get authorization. Old Republic tells me, "We don't talk to them on the phone. They fax us all the information, and it probably just hasn't reached our system yet as it is probably in the mail room still." I know now that one of the two parties is not being quite honest with me.

And yet again, long story short, I argue with people on the phone from Service Time, trying to figure out just how in the hell their whole business works; with all it's authorizing (it turns out that sometimes "authorization department" means Service Time's, and other times when they say "authorization department", they mean an authorization dept. at Old Republic, lol), checking, calling-back, etc. Old Republic ends up calling Service Time directly, and gives the authorization. That was simple...why didn't that just happen Friday? Yay! So I'm happy now, ready to have the part ordered and installed! But, ahhh, the catch. Wouldn't you know it, but the ordering dept. at Old Republic isn't open on the weekend! Service Time says they'll call me first thing Monday morning when they hear from Old Republic that the part has been ordered. Why all the authorizing, etc. if Old Republic is the one that orders the flippin' part?

Monday morning, day seven, counting the first day this happened, as it was the morning when the call went in. Service Time opens at eight AM. Nine AM comes, and nothing. Ten AM, nothing. Well, they must be waiting for Old Republic. I call Old Republic at around ten thirty AM, and they inform me that they ordered the part a couple hours prior. I call Service Time, and they have it in the system. Why they didn't call me, I'll never know. Oh, wait, I do know why! It's because they are Service Time! That's the only reason...they are what they are: a company lacking any sort of customer service ethic or ability to promptly handle business. So the part is due Wednesday they say. I ask, "When will it be installed?"

They reply, "We'll set up the appointment when it arrives. We can't do anything else until it gets here."

"Well, what is the average time it has been taking?"

"It varies sir, we are very busy."

"Okay, okay. Look...say it were to arrive today, when would it be put in", I question in a frustrated tone. How hard is it for them to give me an answer?

"Well sir, if it arrives early Wednesday morning, we can put it in that day. If not, we should be out Thursday to put it in."

Ahh! An answer! Finally! Now I wait some more. Living with family is fine enough, but being out of your home is only endurable to a point, the arrival of which causes everything non-stressful to become so. Every morning my wife struggles to get ready, and that's hard to watch. I really wish we were home!

So now, for those of you whom can see a calendar or, unlike me, are constantly aware of what day of the week it is, you are probably aware that today is Thursday.

"Well," I hear you asking, "what happened?" I will get to that shortly. In fact, I'll get to that now.

I called Wednesday morning (day nine) and they hadn't heard anything or gotten their shipment. I waited, and called again around three PM. They had trucks there, and were processing the parts, and would call me when they were done. Remember, they close at five Pm. I called again at four thirty, and they said they were almost done. I called at four fifty, and the machine picks up. I called again at four fifty five, and five ten PM, and was again answered by a robot.

So here we are, on Thursday. I call them this morning, first thing, at around eight forty-five, giving them some time to call me first. This, of course, never happened. They say they are in the process of calling the people who's parts have come in, and I will hear from them within half an hour. I wait...an hour, and then call them. They now say I will get a call in a few minutes. I wait...another hour, and then call them again.

"Sir, I understand your frustration (is she sitting in a cool place, and living in her own house? then no, she doesn't understand at all.), but we have a huge workload and have many calls to return. Can you please hold?"

And so, after five minutes of the Almighty Musak, she informs me that the part will be installed SATURDAY between eight AM and noon. I am astounded, of course, at the prospect of waiting another two days. I remind her that they told me it would be installed the same day if it arrived early enough. She says that because of the high rate of business, they can't get out earlier than Saturday. After I get off the phone, I remember that on Monday they told me it would take a day. If they are suddenly more busy than they were on Monday, wouldn't my order be ahead of those that popped up between Monday and Thursday? I guess not. In any case, I call and lodge a complaint with Old Republic, who is full of apologies of course, but no solutions. They say that in the future, if I have problems like this, that I should inform them so they can offer me other options. I remind them that I asked if there was another company I could go with, after that first day when Service Time didn't contact me, and that the representative said, "I'm sorry, but that is the company we use in your area. There are not other companies you can use."

Did I mention that a friend's parent's AC went out, for the same problem, and it was fixed in five days? Did I mention that another friend's went out this Monday, and through their warranty company (Century 21), it is going to be fixed this Thursday? Did I mention that I am switching warranty companies when this one expires?

The cost, including the warranty plan price, will be approximately $490 and twelve days. To do it on our own would have cost approximately $700 and probably just six or seven days. I'm torn between which would have been better. So make a long story short, Service Time is anything but a company that provides service on time. That is, of course, unless they mean the time for service is two weeks from now when it could be just a few days.

Image from http://www.bobjude.co.uk/psptubes/misc/e.gif