Day: September 13, 2020

I am presently on hold with directtv, who have recently locked me out of my account for 24 hrs on the opening day of football and have had me on hold for ten minutes. My guess, it is going to be a long wait. So… It is going to be a long rant.

Our current econo-political system is broken. We talk in broadstrokes about not having monopolies but do everything in our mass marketing power to drive people towards the goal of liking one thing and given total power over that one thing to a single, massive, corporation. Like Jon Oliver, I am done with AT&T. However, like Oliver, I am still stuck dealing with AT&T so long as I choose to like football and live out of market of the teams I want to see play.

Direct TV is owned by AT&T. They hold the only contract on out of market NFL games. That means if you want to see a game that is not going out over a free public channel in your area you gotta go through them.

So, as I struggle with this for the second time in three years (I stopped using it for a year after the first full day game-missing struggle) I am reflecting on how this has really just become the American experience. We are all slaves to the corporation and we gauge and judge our worth based on corporations or what they produce. We value ourselves by things. We estimate American wealth by stocks. We are the worst version of capitalists in that we pretend to value individual capital and instead find ourselves slaves to the larger corps and their wants and needs and we get lost in the machinery of things very quickly.

I am lost in the machinery. I have sent my money off into that dark void and all I am getting back is headaches. I really dislike the system and the corp and the fact that I cannot watch my damn game.

As I sat down to post today I realized that I never published yesterday. I didn’t hit the button twice–a common oversight when rushing through the process. That led me to sit here and think about why I rush. I rush because I try to do too much. I rush because I want to do too much. When I rush I don’t savor. I don’t get to appreciate the process or the moment or the act of actually doing a thing. Instead I zoomboy through it and the moment is gone.

That is unacceptable.

If the last week has told me anything it is to slow down and appreciate each moment as it unfolds, because I don’t get too many and I do not want to waste them. I love the people in my life. I love most of what I do, and I don’t always appreciate that. Instead I lose it in a rush to get to the next thing. I don’t linger as I should, and that is what hurt me most in the relationship I am in. I spent more time trying to ‘fix’ it and categorizing it as a problem than I did lingering in the power and beauty of this rare love. I have been a bad soulmate. I have been a bad human as well for a while now–always dealing with stuff instead of diving into the beauty of life.

Tonight I want to sit around and play games with my family. I want to take a pause from trying to create the space and enjoy them in our space as it is now. This is a hard change for me, but something I know I will appreciate and something I realize I need to do for nobody else but me.

In doing this for me and getting me right, I become better to the people I live for.

I will be keeping a steady list of the win and loss predictions this season in the hopes I can beat Cynthia Frelund and her magical algorithms. Mind over math. Here we go with part II:

Patriots over Dolphins
People continue to forget that Matt Cassel, Jimmy G, and Jacoby Brisset were all made big time just by playing in the Patriot system. These backups became starters under this offense and short of Jimmy G, weren’t very good. Cam is actually good. The Dolphins are not.

Seahawks over Falcons
This is going to need to be a big year for C. Ridley. No, I am not forgetting about Jones. He is probably the best WR in the game right now, but he is going to get a lot of attention and unless Ridley steps up, the Falcons are not going very far. He will step up, but not against the Legion.

Rams over Cowboys
I don’t have huge expectations for the Cowboys like everyone else does. They will be okay. The Rams, however, have a ton to prove on defense and without pre-season I think that desire will show itself during week one. Rams by a tutty.

Titans over Broncos
I know what the Titans can do on O and D. With their main defender out for the season I don’t know what the Broncos will do on D short of rely on an anemic O. Titans eat on Monday Night.

Giants over Steelers
Weird note: The same family owns both teams. This is a hugely fun family clash that gives a bunch of new Giant faces a chance to show out. They will. I believe the G-men shock the world… and the Steelers.

Bucs over Saints
This is going to be a shootout for sure. Yesterday I said RunCMC was gonna show out. Today I believe it is going to be Brees v. Brady for most possible yards ever.

49rs over Cards

Chargers over Bengals

Bears over Lions

That’s all folks!