Olympics are over ….. almost

I’m not going to lie…… I’m exhausted it was a long arse week that included about a day of Overtime and a day out of town delivering some conference items to another office that greatly cut into my Olympic watching time. I still managed a very impressive watch list for those days but the Olympic exhaustion due to the time zone change hit me hard yesterday. While in a meeting with my boss I could feel myself sinking and at one point he said “Marcy are you ok?” I immediately perked up and said yeah why. His response “I think your battery just ran out. Go home!” So I did. I then fell asleep on the couch for about 2 hours. Woke up feeling just awful, as I typically do after a nap – I suck at nap taking apparently. However it was a recharge I guess I needed to watch the Platform Diving semis, and some indoor volleyball, the end of a marathon, and some track and field during the night time coverage of the events.

The best thing about this Olympics being postponed, yes I found something positive about waiting a year …. Is that now the next Olympic games in Paris, France are even closer. . Right now the games are scheduled for July 26 – August 11 in 2024.3 years to prepare instead of 4 …. So yeah that’s a good thing, well for me not the athletes.

Random closing thoughts on this Olympic Cycle:

1.       Americans are spoiled – a medal is a medal. Sure no one grows up waiting a bronze medal but damn a Bronze is still pretty freaking fantastic. It’s time we stop that if it’s not a Gold it doesn’t matter mentality. Top 3 in the world is still awesome, top 2 is good and the top of the heap with that Gold is Amazing when you think about what all it took to get to these milestones, even without a global Pandemic, is what should be celebrated. Americans please do better.

2.       Mental Health – Don’t get me wrong … I’m glad that athlete’s are able to express themselves and are able to have their voices be heard when it matters and I hope that one day they won’t even be required to make a statement after something happens or they feel the need to pull out of an event. I do wonder if the “stars” of these sports weren’t the ones doing it would it be hitting in the same manner. If say the girl who was say 15^th in the world vs #1 was having the same conversation would we be listening. Sadly I think the answer is no. So let’s keep working on this guys.  

3.       Lots of first-time winners – Usually first time Olympians are there for the experience. They often get overwhelmed by the pressure and the just overall feeling of the moment they are in and yet this year there have been a lot more first-time winners than we have seen in past Olympics. So kids are either being better trained or are just getting lucky or they are just cocky and thus the moment isn’t as overwhelming. I personally think the pressure isn’t as high cause I mean most people do two maybe 3 rounds of Olympic games (depending on the sport) and so these “younger kids” know this will not be their only opportunity to medal and stay more relaxed.

4.       GOAT – The term “G.O.A.T” is way overused. There are athletes that deserve that recognition and I’d argue that even getting to the Olympics means you are the best of the best for your Country but not every athlete can be the “greatest of all time” cause if they are then they cancel one another out. They can be the greatest of their sport … maybe.. greatest for that moment in time, but years ago people would have said say Shannon Miller gets that distinction or Usain Bolt but their records are being shattered left and right. I just feel like we need to calm down with that distinction just a little bit and enjoy the athletes for what they are bringing to their individual sports without adding that moniker to their shoulders. Just saying.

5.       Sports I missed – I have watched more Soccer this year than in years past …. Not really sure why other than it seemed for a while that every time I turned on my various devices it was on my TV. That being said there are sports that I LOVE that I missed this year. Take Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics, two really awesome sports to follow and watch but that never made it to my eyeballs this year and that makes me sad. I also didn’t get to watch the new Surfing competition but I’m not too chuffed about that. Sport Climbing I caught a glimpse of while they did a news around the games update but didn’t really watch the competition. Sailing, Golf, and Athletics were the same way but again I wasn’t too sad about missing these. Overall tho I saw more than I missed so I’m happy with my 2020/2021 Olympic experience.

 Time to catch up on my sleep. . Next up Dragon Con … then the Paralympic games which are often more compelling than the actual games to me. Then next year the Winter Games are right around the corner (Feb 2022) and Invictus will be back !

 

Marcy

Random Thoughts by Marcy

I’ve been wanting to make a post for a while now but every time I think about one I have about 12 things bouncing around in my head that I feel deserves my voice …. And it all ends up being a jumbled mess in my head. In those cases, I have done a “random thoughts post” so I’ve decided it’s time to bring out the Random Thoughts posts if for on other reason so I can generate some content on this blog. 

Mental Health

I’m not going to lie …. I’ve been better. I’ve fallen into a pretty bad rut lately where I get up, work 8-10 hours, sometimes skipping lunch and then have supper, and sit in my chair watching TV praying for a time when I can go to bed then when I get in bed I lay there watching crap on youtube or some other digital platform until about 1 before finally giving up and falling asleep only to get up the next day and do it all over again. Saturday tends to be my only day where I can sleep in and sadly that’s 10am cause by then I’m usually wide awake. I have a tendency to stay in my bed long after I woke up cause I know the second I hit the floor I’m going to be going until I can get back into that bed. I wish I could walk into a room without hearing “I need you to…” or “oh good I have a job for you ….” I know they need me and I appreciate that but it sometimes becomes too much and I just want to be left alone for 3 seconds. That’s usually when I go to bed early or take a “bath.” I spent some of last weekend cleaning up my space just cause I needed to do that. For as little time I spend in there it is amazing how quickly it can become awfully messy with “stuff” everywhere. Mostly clothes. I’m real bad about washing clothes then not putting them away. Taking back control of my “space” helped me very much, tho it also made me see what else needed to be done. That is the problem with cleaning ………. It always makes you see how much more needs your attention that you don’t have the energy to give it.

Halloween

How come when I’m available to watch all the Halloween movies and fun all that’s on is Back to the Future … or anything from the Chucky series (which I just can’t get into), The Mummy, the Nightmare Before Christmas fine films mind you but not the Halloween goodness I want to fill my eye holes with during Halloween fun time. Where the hell is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Halloween 2? Little Shop of Horrors ? Why does it seem all the good stuff is on when I’m not available to watch it? Friday I did turn on the Friday the 13^th marathon as my work background noise … one of the joys of working from home. I just feel like I’m missing so much of it all and that makes a sad Marcy.  

Justin Willman

Speaking of Halloween did you hear that Justin William is doing virtual magic shows based on his Magic for Humans Netflix show. He’s doing two special shows on the 30^th and 31^st. The entire show is a Live Interactive hour of mind-blowing (spooky) magic and surprises via Zoom. I mean everything else on the planet is done by Zoom why not this. Ticket’s are $25 per household and you can sign up at  https://www.justinwillman.com/virtual

I’ve already gotten my ticket for the 30th Halloween Eve! Better hurry they are going fast!

Politics/Election

Just one time …one time before I die I want to vote for someone cause I truly believe they have the answers that will make this Country great …. Not again … but to the potential that the super power that used to be the United States could really live up to. It’s been a long time since we were that. I’m honestly surprised that the other countries still let us play with them at the big summits. This dates back several presidents ago ……. Not just the most recent train wreck. The truth is I really wanted him to do well. I wanted him to dig his head out of his own ass and his advisors to do the same and really get to work for this Country. It could have been a good thing it could have kept alive the idea that anyone could be president that anyone could rise to that level, but now that seems to be a dead dream. Don’t get me wrong this is not a Democratic love post cause at the moment I’m just as sick of them as I am “him.”

What really kills me tho …. Is that no one has figured out how to work with his crazy ass. Even his own people don't know how to get him to do anything or talk to him in a way that would make a sane person you know listen. It’s not a United as a Country thing anymore it’s an us vs them thing and that’s just sad. It’s been that way before “him” but it seems like it’s now so more than ever. I am so tired of the back and forth bullshit and nothing getting settled or accomplished and the people who put them in those positions are the ones that suffer for it. My biggest fear is that he will win ….. that there’s too many like me who feel that this is all just a giant waste of time but my bigger fear is that he won’t leave and then there’s that fight. What really scares me is I’m not even sure the Democrats are confident in their choice. This is the first election in my lifetime that I have seriously considered not voting at all. What’s the point?! No matter what I vote the outcome in my state will be the same …. Therefore all these people telling me I have a voice couldn’t be more wrong, and that’s the saddest thing ever.

COVID-19

I have personally known a good dozen people that tested positive for the Virus, one of which died. Yes he had underlying medical conditions but at the end of the day those were aggravated by Covid and the end result is the same. He’s gone. His wife is now living without him and struggling to pay bills, his daughter accepted the flag for his service to our country and he’s gone. I had given serious thought to not voting at all … cause well as started above …. What’s the point anyway. Turns out all I needed was a push. I got that push after “he” got out of the hospital, after getting the best medical care in the world, and told said world that this Virus was no big deal. I’m currently working from home because my coworkers have decided that it’s no big deal and now the LEADER of the FREE WORLD has validated that belief. This is not a joke. This is something that we should have had under control by now. That other Countries figured out long before it got here and instead of watching what they were doing and paying attention we decided to go our own way and here we are. Still in the throws of it with numbers not declining and not even evening out but still rising. That’s messed up. The idea that Biden would have had all the answers is of course insane but it can’t be worse can it? I mean honestly how far as we going to let this fucking go before we say enough is enough? Meanwhile this Covid shit still doesn’t get under control. That is not a world I want to live in at all.

So those are my random thoughts ……… they are not endorsed by Golden (@theonlygolden) they are my thoughts and my thoughts alone.

Thanks for reading,

Marcy

@beaslma

Happy Palm Sunday in Quarantine

 

At least according to my preacher today is Palm Sunday. I’m still trying to get used to the fact that April is finally here. March can suck it. That was just the worst I mean the worst. Tho I’m side eyeing April real hard cause it isn’t looking any better.

I haven’t left my house since March 15^th when we got home from Church. Our boss made the call that afternoon that our department was to work from home that week. See he didn’t want to risk his family by coming into a busy office building holding some 500 people and if he didn’t want to do it he wasn’t going to ask us to do it. BOSS OF THE YEAR! We had done it before when our building had a plumbing issue and half our floor flooded out. We could do it again. The following week he decided it was working and we would continue as long as it was working. If we needed to run in for something do it. If we wanted to go into the office and work we could do that too. He was leaving that week up to us but he strongly advised we stay the course. On March 27^th the firm CEO decided that all office employees that could work remotely should be working remotely, until further notice. So now all our coworkers are doing the same.

My firm should be really upset by how much I have enjoyed my working from home during this pandemic. I have found it surprisingly easy and I’m getting a lot done without all the daily work-related/non-work-related distractions that occur in the work place. I’m also forgetting to go to lunch. Sometimes I look up and it’s 1:30 so I’ll run downstairs fix me a sandwich and get back to what I was doing. However just about every night, with one really dumb exception, I have logged off at 5 without a care in the world. See I used to work until about 5:30/6 to avoid the majority of drive home traffic. I also used to get to work around 7:30 and now I’m “getting to work” around 7. So I think it’s all about the same.

Most of our clients have accepted digital submissions with the exception of a few whom I won’t name here but there’s a special place in hell for them should my boss get sick. See he didn’t want us out and about. So he went to good ole Amazon and bought himself a puncher and binder machine, some paper, CDs, Ink etc., and he produces the packages as we email them to him and he prints/punches/binds. Then takes them to the Fed Ex place for mailing. Again can I say BOSS OF THE YEAR! So far our group hasn’t missed a deadline. Our group is like a well oiled machine and so I don’t expect us to miss one but you have to include the so far just incase. We have had several “check-in” meetings to see how everyone is doing, to be assigned new submittals etc., so in other words. Business as usual.

 

That’s kind of how I feel about the world these days. My state has issued a “stay at home order” but it really only applies at night from like 5pm to 10am. She also announced that if everyone complied we "might" get to have football this fall. I was like really!? really!? but it did get a lot of attention. Sigh ....from the sounds of the cars driving by football be damned! If you do get caught out and about just be smart enough to say I’m going to the grocery for supplies, or I’m going to the drug store to get some medicine for my fill-in-blank and you are good to go. My family started using SHIPT long ago and continue to use it today. We got a delivery yesterday and while they were out of a lot of things it went well. All the SHIPT people are super nice and really helpful. God love em.  

 

I don’t know if you saw it or not but Golden blogged the other day after she was put on lockdown by her doctor for having a fever for a few days straight. She didn't take the test cause well they didn't have one for her to take. Her doctor said if her symptoms got worse to call immediately. Not gonna lie I think it freaked us both out. We are both a little concerned now that she is getting ready to reenter the world and go back to work on Monday. However unlike her I have been far less productive with my “quarrentine”. This morning I did clean out my car. Something that was necessary as I fished out a Halloween costume so yeah that was long over due to come out. Yesterday I did literally nothing. ALL DAY. I recently bought myself a Nintendo Switch and literally played it all day long. Except for that short time when I took a shower … you know …. To break up the day. I can not tell you the last time I spent an entrie day literally doing nothing. I just have ZERO desire to do anything. Even when I start doing something I want to do I immediately don’t want to do it and either stop or rush through it just to get it over with. 

I think I’m mentally exhausted. My brain is processing so fast I can’t see straight sometimes. I feel like I’m constantly going from the second my feet hit the floor to the point that when I do wake up I lay in my bed for at least an hour before finally dragging myself out of the bed to start the day. This is not a good habit and I need to break it sooner than later. It's like everything i have looked forward to, Invictus Games, NCAA basketball, NCAA gymnastics regionals/championships, Olympics Easter fun (dinner with family/annual Easter Egg hunt) has been canceled so what's the point in everything else continuing. Ok that's dramatic. The Olympics and Invictus will continue next year but yeah that's like a whole year away. I just have for lack of other way to phrase this a Case of the Monday's all damn week. 

On a purely selfish note let me add if this Rona fucks up my Dragon Con Vacay in Sep/Aug I’m gonna be real pissed. I mean Rona has been an irritation, and at times a real annoyance but that’s just crossing the line. On the other hand other Cons are getting cancelled and people are going to want to get their fix so …. Dragon Con might be more crowed than usual but you know what forget that I’m going and I’m going to enjoy myself damit!

Anyway happy Palm Sunday…….. tell the Easter Bunny to skip your house this year cause he might have Rona!

Marcy
@beaslma

Thankfulness Challenge – Technology

As I start this journey, I can’t help but be thankful for Technology, which is making this blog possible after all. It also allows me to keep in touch with family and friends when they are not sitting next to me. Allows me to reach out to friends when I know they are having a good day, bad day, stressful day etc., and just let them know I'm around and I'm cheering for them. I’m not just talking about the internet however I’m talking all of it. The internet in general who gives us access to …. Well everything from stupid awesome costume ideas, to super cute animal videos, to TV shows, and connections with family and friends that you might not have without it. Earlier today my friend was able to watch her sons football game on her cell phone while she was at lunch with a friend even though he lives 3 states away and they were playing 5 states away. Since he picked up a football all those years ago you can count on one hand the games she has missed and technology is allowing her to keep that trend going.

This morning I pulled up my e-mail as I was being lazy and not wanting to start my Saturday yet and realized someone hacked my Netflix account. I got three e-mails in the span of 5 minutes that my account had been changed, my password updated and my e-mail changed and so I couldn’t log into my account as it frankly didn’t exist anymore. See I originally got my account cause Justin Willman released Magic For Humans. I got a gift card at Wallgreens and connected the account to that. At the end of the card I deactivated my account. I didn’t want to kill it off cause … he’s making another and I’d just have to get a new account. However to keep it going I had to put it on my credit card. Well that was two cards ago, and honestly I haven’t thought about Netflix since. So, I went to the Netflix website and was able to chatt with one of their account managers and within 30 minutes all was back in place. The guy found it funny that whomever did it (someone in Vietnam apparently) hacked the ONE NETFLIX ACCOUNT that didn’t have an active credit card attached to it. I was like yeah that’s the funny part. Thetrue funny part to me is that I had recently given thought to making it a real account and start checking it out more.

Technology can also suck your life dry if you let it. I’ve never understood the need for celebrities on social media to focus on the negative. Don’t get me wrong I get it … respond to someone that says something hateful but you know that same account got 10 positive messages that they just scolled by on their way to that negative one.

However what I love the most about technology is the people using it for good. The numerous aps and accounts being used to help people’s mental health from text messages when you need someone to talk to but feel more comfortable talking about your trouble’s with strangers.

Most of these accounts have people available 24-7 to talk about a variety of things, anxiety, suicide thoughts, depression, emotional and physical abuse, bullying etc. No judgment just a friendly ear, and a text conversation so you don’t have to say the things that worry you out loud making them “real.” Especially if you are worried about someone else hearing your struggle.  These sites typically offer training, blog posts about protecting mental health, and information for people that need more focused counseling.

A few notable options include :
https://www.crisistextline.org/
https://www.giveusashout.org/
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/
https://www.thehotline.org/
https://giveanhour.org/get-help/helplines/

It’s a great way for people to reach out on the own time, when they are in the moment and when things are hitting them hard as oppose to taking time off work, or school, or having to actually ask someone for help something that’s still pretty tough for a lot of people to do. I think that that’s quite possibly the coolest thing about technology. It’s ability to connect people in a way that we’ve never had before. So to start this exercise … I’m thankful for technology and it’s use to make the world better.

Marcy
@beaslma

Lent - SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK

 

 LENT: Lent is a solemn religious observance in the Christian calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14^th ) and ends 6 weeks later before Easter Sunday (March 31^st). The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sings, almsgiving, and self denial. In Lent, many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries in order to replicate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s journey into the desert for 40 days. Many use that “extra time” to read daily devotionals, pray, and meditate in order to draw themselves closer to God.

So last year for lent I gave up social media. I was kind of sick of my timeline filled with BS that was stressing me out. I was pondering giving it up all together but decided instead of a lent break. I have to say …. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Since coming back from that break this thing that was supposed to be used to be social with people I’d never know without it has become that for me again. I’ve had conversations with people, I’ve done more than just share and RT everything in sight. I’ve read more articles instead of blindly sharing them. It was a nice reminder of what these sites, FB, Twitter, Instagram etc., were created for.

It’s funny to me cause last year I did it to alleviate some anxiety in my life to step away from the negativity that had taken over my social media timeline and this year … it’s more about just stepping away. When I logged back into all the sites last April I also did a cleanse of my timeline, followers, friends and now my social media is a place I enjoy going to. This is truly a sacrifice because I use Social Media to keep up with people, like Golden, my favorite musicians, sports figures, sporting events, my family etc., so it’s going to be harder this year than last year I think. I mean the Olympics are on, my Auburn Gymnastic team is poised to have a fantastic month, I’m going to see Eric Erdman play a show Wed.,  and I won’t be able to talk about it.  

However, I’m also reminded of the lessons I learned from my Social Media break last year, how I posted, what I shared, the positive energy and negativity that I put out there on my own TL for others to deal with that kind of thing. It made me a better person both in the digital world and in real life as this break also allowed me to be fully engaged in the everyday world I was living in. Let’s  not forget that it was on that Social Media break that by happenstance I found Ed Sheeran’s music and my ears have been happier for it. I wonder who will hit my radar when I’m allowed to really see that radar this year?! I also refocused my energy on this blog during my social media break which reawakened my creative side to an extent.

So my point to you all is this …. When I turned off all my notifications last year my phone immediately went silent to the point I thought it might have died. It was not uncommon for my phone to go off several times an hour, it was a distraction and those 40 days with no notifications made me not miss it or want to check my various feeds. When I relogged into everything after the break I was very selective on whose notifications were turned back on, and whom I decide I didn't miss enough to have those constant notifications. That has made my social media life way more enjoyable and far more social. 

 

I’ll see you guys in March … until then be safe, take care of yourselves, and if you don’t mind ….do me one favor … check in on Golden every once in a while for me :D She's planning to do another 40-acts this year and frankly that's what I'll miss the most about this break, she's the most giving person I know and  the world needs more people like her. 

 

Thanks,

Marcy (@beaslma)