The Game's Afoot

The Game's Afoot Dear Watson

I have been a fan of the Sherlock series both the one on BBC and the one here in the United States. The idea that when good is fighting evil, the satisfaction comes not only from getting to the finish line but also from running as fast as is possible. The thrill of the quest is sometimes all that is required. As Sherlock would say "the game's afoot."

So, here in the USA, we are in the midst of our college basketball championship season so game seem to be on everyone's minds. Even here on the world of bloggers. It may turn out that the "game" is becoming a meme of sorts.

Michelle Poston over at Rubber Shoes in Hell talked about the game of martyrdom...you know that one where a person's story of their life is so much worse than anyone else's. I was playing this game when the man I was talking to reminded me that he flew in Vietnam and lost his friends in that war. I lost one. Recently, when it was pointed out to me that women loves to stay home with babies, so men worked much harder than women did. Actually, I gave up on that one because I felt a little bit of pity for the guy.

Another post by Carla Birnberg on Unapologetically Herself talked about being average. She embraced her "averageness" pointing out that being average is not a bad thing. In fact, being successful does not necessarily mean being above average. I liked her post a lot because it reminded me that games are not necessarily about winning
but are also about life choices.

I am not a game player in anyway. The fact that I play golf as a game surprises me as much as it does anyone else. I like to be good at whatever I do but that does not mean that I need to win to feel good about myself. That is just me. But...sometimes I will say that I do know that "the game's afoot!" and I know that I do want to win...a lot. Generally that feeling results from the need to prove a point even with myself.

So the game is on. It doesn't matter what game I am playing or why I want to make my point. What matters is that as the game is played, I do my best. Because in the end, I am only competing with myself.

It is a thought!

Have a wonderful day.

b+

We are playing a golf tournament tomorrow that we won last year. We were accused of "cheating" to win...so let me tell you The Game's Afoot! We do not cheat ever.

What Do Your Keys Tell About You?

My husband bought a new diesel truck many years ago. It was one of the few of that model around at that time and people...mostly men...were very interested in how a "power stroke" diesel truck worked. I am not a truck expert so I have no idea what that means but evidently it was pretty impressive.

The truck was a salmon color and had all the upgrades so it seemed very luxurious to me. It did whistle a little around the windows when you drove over 70 but that was a minor issue. I didn't like going over 70 anyway,

My husband was in heaven. My grandsons thought grandpas truck was very cool and owning the truck meant we could buy a fifth wheel RV. Life was a lot of fun.

But what impressed me more than anything about owning that truck was how many keys guys that do "truck talk" in front of the hardware store have. I stayed inside the cab of the truck as they emerged from the store and asked my husband about his new truck. We watched as they kicked the tires and asked to see under the hood. Their keys jingled as they inspected the underside and dropped the tailgate to get a better look. Having that many keys gives a person a aura of importance I think.

My husband was a high school principal for many years. He carried a key for every door in his school. Students figured out right away that there was nowhere to hide inside that school when he would show up unlocking closets and janitor rooms. No one had ever done that before. Those keys carried a lot of power. The jig was up and they headed back to class.

It turns out that you can tell a lot about a person based on how many keys they carry on their belt. My friend met a couple the other day. They both worked in the hospital. One worked in personnel but she wasn't sure about the other. However, the fact that he had a lot of keys on his belt led her to believe that he wasn't a nurse. Nurses didn't get to have that many keys she told me.

See what I mean.

We have carried keys around for years not knowing what they unlocked but remaining hopeful that a forgotten lock would be found for every mystery key. Right now I don't have a set of keys at all. Ours were stolen from our car and it turns out that it will cost several hundred dollars to replace the car keys so I just do without. We share what keys we do have. Someone out there has a set of keys with no car and a whole bunch of mystery keys. I hope that works out for them!

When my parents died, there were keys to important locks that I never found. I suspect that everyone has a junk drawer where spare keys to forgotten padlocks are stored. The mystery of all those keys will never be solved.

So, how many keys do you carry? I am just curious.

b+

I Could Do That But Why Would I??

When was the last time you sat down to write a letter or a short note? Have you become as dependent on that smartphone and texting as I have? the wonderful devices suggest the next word and do a spell check as I am writing. 

I was at the golf course yesterday and I needed to leave a written note for a friend. I found a piece of paper and a pencil so I could do the task. Do you know how hard it is to even find a piece of paper and a pencil?

Then I began writing the note:

I lave...no have

New piece of paper:

 the clothes....no cloths for the table. 

New piece of paper:

Their...no there...are plenty. 

Barbara

I wanted to add more but I had torn up three note pad sheets and just gave up. Now you might think that I would worry about that sort of thing but I don't. It is a bit like that bicycle I used to ride. I COULD ride it if I wanted but what is the point.

It is just a thought.

b+