No Longer Elite

For the first time in 14 years, I no longer have status with Delta.  While I never had significant status - I was Gold for a 4 year period of that - I did have a heck of a run in staying at Silver.  

It took some doing.  About ten years ago I took a cheap mileage run to Las Vegas to keep my status, and a couple of years ago I bought some miles via a new program Delta launched to maintain Gold for an extra year.

It was worth it.  Even at lowly Silver, the benefits paid off:

• Being able to pick exit row seats had been a huge boon.  Many of them are even better than the new Comfort Plus area - in some instances, by a long shot.
• I got bumped up to first a lot.  It was way better years ago, but I would bet my overall average was about one out of every three flights.  That's a nice benefit.
• My wife got bumped with me a handful of times, which was doubly nice.
• Once upgraded, one got all the benefits commensurate with flying first, with the most important being the first class check-in at the airport and through security.  That was a huge time saver.

No, being captive to Delta isn't cheap, especially at satellite airports like Green Bay and Fargo.  Indeed, most flights from those airports run $650 on average - brutal.  However, the one benefit of it has been that air travel gets aggregated to the one carrier, and with enough trips, status comes along with it.

Now that the job has changed, I just don't travel anymore.  That's fine with me - since 9/11, business travel is a flat bitch.  However, when I do travel from now on, it will be without status, which I'll miss greatly.

It was a really good run while it lasted. 

How's Your Gym Use Resolution Going?

We're nearing the end of January, so it is a good time to check in and see how we're doing on our New Year's resolutions.  If you have a gym membership, odds are your progress isn't going very well.  

In fact, in a recent study by Statistic Brain, 63% of all gym memberships go completely unused.  

63%!

Other stats that they found:

• Of those that go, 82% go less than once per week
• Likewise, those that go will stop completely within 6 months 22% of the time
• 31% of all gym members would have never signed up if they had realized how little they use it

The gym companies know this and act accordingly.  Many gyms boast 5,000 to even 10,000 members while having a maximum capacity of 300-500 because they can count on members never showing up.  

Personally, as of 29th, I've been to the gym 22 times.

And I pretty much have the place to myself.

Maybe Missing the Trip Wasn't So Bad...

As reported previously, I was not able to make my annual trip to Louisiana this year.  It had me completely depressed all weekend - the entire time I've been thinking, "OK, right now if I was down there we'd be doing this now..."  

All weekend long.

However, maybe the fates have done me a favor.  Consider the following:

• When I pulled out of the airport after my failed attempt at my flight, my vehicle signalled a tire pressure issue.  I definitely hit something on my way to Fargo, and it has impacted for sure one and possibly two tires.  I've been airing them over the weekend since the tire shop was too busy to take my rig on Friday.  With my return flight scheduled for Sunday night at 11:30, I would have been faced with a flat tire, and maybe more.
• That would have been made all the more hard because as of Sunday night we're in the middle of a nasty blizzard.  We're expecting 5" of snow, driven by 30MPH winds.  I would have been changing a tire in a cramped, uncovered airport parking lot at midnight in -30 degree windchill in the snow.  After I got it changed, I'd then need to drive home in that mess.
• To top it all off, after I came back from working out at the club on early Sunday morning, my side hurt.  Upon getting ready for the shower, I noticed blisters on my side and back.  Shingles.  I got into the doc immediately after mass and got on meds right away to try and stem the expansion.  Who knows what I would be like if I was stuck on a plane all day instead?

No, I'm not happy about missing my trip.  However, I'm also quite happy that I missed what could have been a really terrible time Sunday night.

The New Christians Vs. the Lions

In just the past couple of weeks, we've seen Christianity under attack by the Left:

• Mike Pence's wife was called out as a bigot for substitute teaching at a Christian school
• Multiple appointment nominees were called out for their participation in the hate group Knights of Columbus
• The March for Life was summarily ignored by the press (again), except for the Covington Catholics, in which case calls for their deaths, the firing and deaths of their family, and the deaths of those that attend their school went out.

Social media and the Left have created this environment of constant outrage and violence.  It is the new Christians versus the lions, except now everyone has a much better seat in the stadium, and, if you want, you can actually be one of the lions.

For all their talk of tolerance, the Left are the biggest bigots in our society.  

Saturday Song Share - Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie to You

We don't dip too far into R and B here at SSS, which is a total shame.  

Here's a totally underrated classic.

Would I lie to you?

No Bayou for This Boy

I awoke at 3:15 (AM, just to be clear) and was on the road by 3:45 to drive through a massive "ground blizzard" to make my flight in time in Fargo.  For the uninitiated, a ground blizzard is a blizzard which is caused solely by the snow on the ground - snow isn't actually falling.  Depending on the wind speed and the amount and type of snow on the ground, these blizzards can be quite dangerous and lead to white-out conditions.

That was pretty much the case yesterday.  However, I had left ample time to make my flight, and my trip was a safe, albeit a slow one.

My check-in, even with a firearm, went smoothly, as did getting through security as our TSA staffing was ample.  Boarding went smoothly as well.  As we sat at the gate and deicing procedures started, the captain came on and told us we had an issue, needed a part in order to fly, and didn't have that part here.  It'd be flying up from Minneapolis and would be here in four hours.

My trip had four legs - FAR > MSP > ATL > JAN.  A four-hour delay was a killer.  While I'll write about it later, the upshot was that I couldn't get to Louisiana for our annual hunt until the following day.  That left me with basically a day and a half of hunting, thus I opted to pull the plug and cancel.

I had done the hard part, was in my seat and ready to go, and fate got me.  If the plane had been working, I'd be putting out decoys right now instead of writing this.  Also, I'd be enjoying some 40-degree temps instead of this nightmare:

More than all of that, I miss the opportunity to see my family.  However, I talked to Mrs. YDP last night, and we're working on what "plan B" looks like, and hopefully this boy will be in the bayou before too long.

Social Media is a Cesspool

If I didn’t need it as an important part of my job, I’d quit all social media starting tomorrow.

Social media is a cesspool.  It is replete with lies, bias, hate, and prejudice.  As the latest example, in just the past two weeks, I’ve had many, many “friends” touting the Gillette ad, and supporting the ruin of the Covington Catholic kids.
  
I’ve dropped them all.  Of all my “friends” on Facebook, I now formally follow less than half.  The rest I’ve blocked.  It’s that bad.

If you deal in hate, that makes you a hater.  If you hate men, that makes you a sexist.  If you hate Catholics for showing up at the March for Life so much that you’re willing to spread lies and ask for people to be hurt, that makes you an anti-religious bigot at best, and a lawless anarchist at worst.

I no longer have time for you.  Begone from my life.

One of the things I’m looking forward to in my future retirement is walking away from social media and never returning.  It can’t get here fast enough.

Guy Tries to Rob Woman UFC Fighter. Oops.

Dana White is president of the UFC, and he shares this little tidbit about a man that tried to rob one of his female MMA fighters.  

How'd it all work out?  We'll let Dana answer:

If you don't rob people, you don't get your ass kicked.  Life's little lesson for today.

Just Joined Dollar Shave Club

After showing that they literally hate men, I am done with Gillette.  While I won't be throwing my existing blades in the trash (I paid for them, I'll use them), I will never again buy a Gillette product.

I signed up for Dollar Shave Club, thus moving Gillette's market share further lower than 50%.  I hope others do the same.

Interested?  Here's an awesome link to get you started: WE LOVE GUYS

Egard Watches - What is a Man?

I couldn't have written this better myself:

Saturday Song Share: Ingrid Michaelson - Maybe

Yeah, this is pretty pop, but it's about as pop as I get:

Minnesota Rep's Intolerance

Ah, the religion of peace rears its ugly head again.  This time, it is courtesy of our new representative from Minnesota:

If roles would have been reversed, Washington would still be burning.  

If you're a white Christian man, society just freaking hates you, and they don't even think about trying to hide it.

Minnesota Seeking to Adopt Red Flag Law

It took the Democrats in Minnesota about two minutes to set up their anti-gun agenda, and one of the first bills they're looking to pass is a "red flag" law.  Under this law, those that feel that you could be a harm to yourself and others can report you to the police, who will summarily come over to your house and confiscate all of your firearms.

Only one teensy problem: There are already a massive amount of people that truly believe that you are already a danger to yourself and society for merely owning a firearm.  Period.  

Time to call the cops!

We've already seen the IRS and the FBI weaponized against political opponents.  We also have already seen people killed by "red flag" laws - it's the new swatting.  This is simple confiscation, pure and undiluted.

Own a gun?  Expect a knock at your door...

Gillette Hates Men

I don't even know where to begin with this, other than what Gillette thinks about their target audience is about as messed up as it gets.  



It is now so in vogue to hate men that companies that actually sell men's products overtly hate them.

Don't believe me?  Watch the ad again.

Sick, sick, sick.    

Feeling Sorry for Ourselves

Life is damned hard.  No matter who we are, we will experience great loss.  We will suffer unspeakable pain.  We will try and endure painful illness.  Ultimately, we'll die.  Life is difficult, for everyone, and it's easy to feel sorry for ourselves.

Fr. Don spoke to this recently:

In Lamentations 3:23 we hear that God’s mercies are new each day. On our part, each day can see a new beginning. An unhappy past, a bad day, a bad week, a bad experience must not sour us on today, tomorrow, the future. A middle-aged writer in the course of an interview revealed that as a child of ten he had come home from school to find his mother murdered. Years later and with that singular background he was able to sum up what that experience and life had taught him, something helpful for us as we begin again. He said: "The abandonment of self-pity is the beginning of wisdom." There is no reason we should not put behind us the hurts and failures of yesterday and begin anew today.

Hard to do, indeed, especially when we're mired in the middle of a painful episode.  Maybe it would make things easier to look around and recognize and those you see either have, are, or will be suffering a similar fate.  We are comrades in pain, and through his passion and crucifixion, even Jesus joins us.

Saturday Song Share: David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans

I miss this guy so much...

When Working Out Doesn't Work Out

It's cold up here this morning.  Temps are below zero, and a massive west wind has been howling for two days now.  Wind chill is solidly in the -20s.  The house is cold.

Hence, when my eyes fluttered open this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was leave my warm bed.  However, it was 4:45, and I was already fifteen minutes behind my usual schedule.  I needed to get to the gym and work out.

I trudged to the car, opened the garage door, and was slapped with that massive wind.  It's the kind that truly takes your breath away when it hits you the right way.  Regardless, fitness waits for no one, so into my vehicle I hop and down the road I go.

I arrive at the gym after a quick 10-minute drive but am dreading the walk across the parking lot in my shorts.   As I hopped into the early morning wind, indeed I did regret my choice of apparel.  I hustled my pace and quickly arrived at the door and flashed my key card as I'd done so many times before.

"BEEP"  Green light.

However, when I went to open the door it remained locked.  I repeated the process approximately 28 more times in the frigid cold in my shorts, but to no avail.

There are a lot of reasons why one can miss their morning workout; everything from a lack of fortitude to just needing to get an extra hour of sleep.  

A broken door at the gym should not be one of those reasons.  Ever.

Ohio Accepting Corporate Tax Remittance Via Bitcoin

Forbes recently reported that Ohio has made the brilliant decision to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment of corporate taxes.

I'm not kidding - here's the article.

They did not state in the article if magic beans will be accepted to pay off tax liability, but if they're not, surely they can't be far behind.

It's one thing if you choose to accept that form of currency, but for a government to forgo US dollars and choose instead to accept taxes via a highly speculative currency with zero financial backing seems the height of irresponsibility.

If I was an Ohio resident, I'd be screaming bloody murder.

Why Do Men Get Paid More than Women? Because they Die

In 2019, I don't buy the argument that men make more than women for similar work.  Note the emphasis.  Do men make, on average in total, more than women?  Yes.  Yes, they do.

Why?  Well, one reason is because they're pretty much the only ones that die while doing their jobs:

If women died on the job at this level and this percentage, there'd be an outcry.  But there's not with men.  Men are expendable.  Yes, we still need logs, fish, roofs, etc., and in order to convince them to take those jobs, they'll be paid well.  But is it nearly all men putting their lives on the line.  Let's not kid ourselves.

As for women getting paid less for doing the exact same job, I don't buy that in the least.  We're in an economy with basically no unemployment - those without a job basically either don't want one or are completely unemployable.  If you're an employer that is paying their talent less based on their gender, I can guarantee your competition is more than willing to pay those same resources a fair wage.  The only way they would not is if there were some kind of collusion going on among competitors.  

You really think that's happening?  If so, I'd argue you know jack about business.

Women can do pretty much anything a man can, with a couple of exceptions related to physical strength.  They should be exactly the same as their male counterparts that are generating similar production.  However, until the chart above gets more in the range of 50% male, can we please move on from the pay disparity argument? 

Men die on the job.  Women don't.  End of story.

Ready for the New Year

Here at YDP, we close the book on 2018.  We had the loss of folks we deeply loved, and it's hard to look beyond that and call it a good year.  Indeed, as I get older, it sure feels like my world gets smaller.  I've deleted far too many names from my iPhone, and miss far too many people that I love so much.

We've also had serious illness and struggles of those we love.  For many, those struggles remain, and more difficult times are on the horizon.  

Nah, not a good year.  That being said, blessings abound, and there is so much for which we can be thankful.  And with that, we look forward to the New Year, and the hope that it affords.

Goodbye, 2018.  Good to have you firmly in the rearview mirror.

Welcome, 2019.  Can't wait to see what's in store.