Thoughts while wondering why I stayed up last night watching The Godfather III

Ok, I have to admit, The Godfather III has grown on me over time after watching it way more than I should. But really, why in the world did I stay up last night watching it? I was tired... I wanted to go to bed... but just when I thought I was out, it pulled me back in.

While I’m admitting things, Hip-Hop/Rap is a guilty pleasure of mine. Specifically Dr. Dre and others that can be linked to him. I know the language in these songs isn’t good and I realize all of the bad things associated with these types of songs... but I can’t help it. I love them. I won’t listen to them with The Wife or the girls in the car with me... but I do listen to them. What is rumored to be Dr. Dre’s last album (Detox) is said to be coming out this year (around April). I won’t say I’m looking more forward to Detox than I am the birth of my 3rd child (1st boy)... but I will say I’ve been looking forward to Detox longer than I have the birth of my 1st boy (3rd child).

Of course, I was a fan of this type of music before it was so mainstream. Who knew this kind of thing would ever happen? I mean, I turned on the tv one day not too long ago and (on ABC... not even cable) saw Ice Cube and Snoop Dog talking about the Raiders and the impact they had on LA back in the... whenever it was they were in LA (I can’t remember right now). One of the commercials that ran during the show had Dr. Dre in it while another one had Eminem. I changed the channel a came across a show staring Ice-T. Who back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s would have bet that would ever happen? It blows my mind.

Speaking of things that blow my mind... I still have trouble figuring out this spell Sonny has over our parents. I swear, if you talk to them you would think he can do anything. “Oh, I’ll just ask Sonny... he’ll know what to do,” or “Did you hear what Sonny did? Oh he’s just so great,” or “Poor Sonny, he just does so much”. PPPPPPLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEE. I almost wrecked my truck on the way home from work the other day because Mom and Dad kept going on and on about Sonny. This is what really sealed it for me...

Dad: “Well, I’ll just ask Sonny to help me with it. He’s already shown me about 14 times, but maybe I’ll get it this next time”.

Mind you, this is a man (Dad) who (if even half of what he told us is true... which I admit might be a stretch) had to take about 1,250 credit hours at Clemson College (yes, he was there before it was Clemson University) to graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 4 years (all the while memorizing the Bible in Latin and English). Bottom line... he ain't dumb.  So why, you ask, does Dad think Sonny can help him? Because (and I'm not making this up) Sonny teaches middle school kids stuff about computers. THIS is what is so impressive to The Parents. Am I the only one who seems to realize middle school kids have grown up with computers?! They don’t know life without them! I bet all of those kids can type faster on their phones with just their thumbs than Sonny can on a keyboard using all of his fingers! Listen, I’m not one to make fun of what others do for a living. God knows (though, luckily it would seem the people who employ me don’t know) my job ain’t exactly brain surgery. But here’s the difference between my job and Sonny’s job... I work with people whose job really IS brain surgery. AND I run a highly successful blog.

Oh, the other “impressive” thing is that Sonny can access Dad’s computer over the internet from his house. Where I come from, that’s called hacking.  And it's frowned upon.

Hmm, I guess if our family were NCIS characters Dad would be Gibbs, I’d be DiNozzo, and Sonny would be McGee. Would it be wrong to give my brother’s nickname a nickname?

Speaking of nicknames, it has been brought to my attention that a certain member of my family has decided to boycott I’m just sayin... because (and I quote) “You made fun of me and I don’t like the nickname you gave me”. Of course, my first thought was to go off on this family member... but Mom and Dad going on and on and on and on about Sonny kind of redirected my “anger”. Anyway, to show that I don’t hold a grudge... I will stop calling Doubting Teri, Doubting Teri. So then, what to call her? Connie came to mind, since like me, Michael Corleone had to deal with a sister who kept questioning him. Then I thought maybe I could teach her (and everyone else) a lesson and change her name to Fredo (hmmm, Doubting Teri doesn’t sound so bad now does it?). But for now... I can’t really think of one that I like.

So word on the street is that No Name Teri is coming down for a visit this weekend. I was able to pull some strings and get Mom and Dad to let her stay at their house. I’m sure she’ll never realize all I had to go through to get them to agree to this. Oh well... I don’t do it for the honor and glory, I do it out of love.

I’ve got more on my mind, but I’ve got to get ready for MR and Daddy Campout in the Den Night.

Oh... before I go... check out the videos my friend over at Our Life posted. They’re great.

Winthrop Update: Winthrop beat Liberty last night. Their final regular season home game will be Saturday at home against VMI. It should be a good one. GO EAGLES!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Quartermaster Frank Bois (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 27, 1863 while on board the USS Cincinnati. His citation reads:

Served as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by enemy shellfire that her fate was sealed. Conspicuously cool in making signals throughout the battle, Bois, after all the Cincinnati's staffs had been shot away, succeeded in nailing the flag to the stump of the forestaff to enable this proud ship to go down, "with her colors nailed to the mast."

Staff Sergeant Paul L. Bolden (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on December 23, 1944 at Petit-Coo, Belgium. His citation reads:

He voluntarily attacked a formidable enemy strong point in Petit-Coo, Belgium, on 23 December, 1944, when his company was pinned down by extremely heavy automatic and small-arms fire coming from a house 200 yards to the front. Mortar and tank artillery shells pounded the unit, when S/Sgt. Bolden and a comrade, on their own initiative, moved forward into a hail of bullets to eliminate the ever-increasing fire from the German position. Crawling ahead to close with what they knew was a powerfully armed, vastly superior force, the pair reached the house and took up assault positions, S/Sgt. Bolden under a window, his comrade across the street where he could deliver covering fire. In rapid succession, S/Sgt. Bolden hurled a fragmentation grenade and a white phosphorous grenade into the building; and then, fully realizing that he faced tremendous odds, rushed to the door, threw it open and fired into 35 SS troopers who were trying to reorganize themselves after the havoc wrought by the grenades. Twenty Germans died under fire of his submachinegun before he was struck in the shoulder, chest, and stomach by part of a burst which killed his comrade across the street. He withdrew from the house, waiting for the surviving Germans to come out and surrender. When none appeared in the doorway, he summoned his ebbing strength, overcame the extreme pain he suffered and boldly walked back into the house, firing as he went. He had killed the remaining 15 enemy soldiers when his ammunition ran out. S/Sgt. Bolden's heroic advance against great odds, his fearless assault, and his magnificent display of courage in reentering the building where he had been severely wounded cleared the path for his company and insured the success of its mission.

First Lieutenant Cecil H. Bolton (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on November 2, 1944 at Mark River, Holland. His citation reads:

As leader of the weapons platoon of Company E, 413th Infantry, on the night of 2 November 1944, he fought gallantly in a pitched battle which followed the crossing of the Mark River in Holland. When 2 machineguns pinned down his company, he tried to eliminate, with mortar fire, their grazing fire which was inflicting serious casualties and preventing the company's advance from an area rocked by artillery shelling. In the moonlight it was impossible for him to locate accurately the enemy's camouflaged positions; but he continued to direct fire until wounded severely in the legs and rendered unconscious by a German shell. When he recovered consciousness he instructed his unit and then crawled to the forward rifle platoon positions. Taking a two-man bazooka team on his voluntary mission, he advanced chest deep in chilling water along a canal toward 1 enemy machinegun. While the bazooka team covered him, he approached alone to within 15 yards of the hostile emplacement in a house. He charged the remaining distance and killed the 2 gunners with hand grenades. Returning to his men he led them through intense fire over open ground to assault the second German machinegun. An enemy sniper who tried to block the way was dispatched, and the trio pressed on. When discovered by the machinegun crew and subjected to direct fire, 1st Lt. Bolton killed 1 of the 3 gunners with carbine fire, and his 2 comrades shot the others. Continuing to disregard his wounds, he led the bazooka team toward an 88-mm. artillery piece which was having telling effect on the American ranks, and approached once more through icy canal water until he could dimly make out the gun's silhouette. Under his fire direction, the two soldiers knocked out the enemy weapon with rockets. On the way back to his own lines he was again wounded. To prevent his men being longer subjected to deadly fire, he refused aid and ordered them back to safety, painfully crawling after them until he reached his lines, where he collapsed. 1st Lt. Bolton's heroic assaults in the face of vicious fire, his inspiring leadership, and continued aggressiveness even through suffering from serious wounds, contributed in large measure to overcoming strong enemy resistance and made it possible for his battalion to reach its objective.

About yesterday...

As you will remember, I had a great "day off" planned for myself yesterday with a Sopranos marathon. I am slowly but surely working my way through this series but it’s hard because this is one of the few shows (the other being Jersey Shore) that I won’t watch with the girls around. So I was coming to the end of an episode and trying to figure out if I had enough time to watch one more episode before The Wife and the girls got home when I received a phone call. It was The Wife calling to tell me she was in an accident and she needed me to come to her (on Ladson Road). Of course, my first response was “Are you ok?” and “Is Daniel ok?”. She said yes to both. You will be proud (and perhaps somewhat surprised) that my next question was not “So why the hell do you need me to come out to you?” Before you get all mad at me, let me first point out that I did not say that to her. Let me also point out that to get to where she was, I had to drive by her and then circle around and come back on the correct side of Ladson Road. During rush hour... which was even worse because (if you haven’t been following) there was an accident. But I didn’t say anything, I just told her not to worry... I was on my way. So I left and after driving about 30 minutes to get to a point that really wasn’t all that far from my house, I arrived at where The Wife was. I will skip the details here except to say that I was very loving and understanding and told her not to worry about anything and we’d be ok and so on and so forth and all that other crap that they say husbands should say in situations like that. She then asked me if I thought she should call the doctor. She didn’t feel bad and she thought Daniel was ok, but I still thought she should give the doctor a call. So she called and the doctor (who was on call at the hospital) said (and I quote) “Yeah, just come on in to the hospital and I’ll take a quick look at him to make sure everything is ok”. So after taking her van home (I drove it... which again went against my impulse to drive my own car so she wouldn’t mess it up) we got in the Kia and went to The Hospital.

You may remember that I have not had what you might call “good interactions” with The Hospital. I don’t like them and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that they don’t like me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We got to The Hospital about 6:00 for our “quick visit” and The Wife gave me a hard time for bringing a book in with me. “We aren’t going to be here that long,” she said. I laughed a hearty laugh and thought “Oh to be so young and naïve”. So we got up to the second floor and they gave The Wife a gown to put on and started doing paperwork. I sat and read my book with a smirk on my face as I watched The Wife realize they were admitting her. Friends, I was very nice at The Accident... but the more I was in The Hospital, the worse my mood was getting. Let me take a second here to point out that the room we were in had a glider (or whatever you call those rocking chair-like chairs) and a regular ol’ chair (and of course a bed). No chair in there that even reclined. To me, this was The Hospital “taking the gloves off”. This was like in Star Wars when the Emperor got rid of the Imperial Senate. The Hospital was saying “We aren’t even going to pretend we want you here”. I will consider this the first shot being fired in our third major war with The Hospital. Big deal, you’re saying... it’s not like you were going to be there that long. Well, they hooked The Wife up to a machine that was set to find a reason for them to keep her overnight and the doctor came in to give us the news (“We need you to stay overnight so we can monitor the baby”) around 7:45pm. Oh, I almost forgot a great part of the paperwork filling out process (mind you, they were getting a lot of the paperwork out of the way for when we come back to have the baby). Nurse: “Will anyone be at home to help you when you take the baby home?” The Wife: “Yes, him” (looking at me) “Um... the daddy”. Me: “Uh, your husband?” The Wife: “Yes... my husband”.

Anyway, I won’t bother you with the details from the rest of my night except to say that I had to go home last night to get some stuff for The Wife and then take it back to the hospital for her and then go back home and clean up the huge pile of dog crap that her dog (aka “Donkey” aka “Doo Doo” [Susie calls him that]) left for me on the floor and then after cleaning up the house and making sure the girls were ok I was able to get a couple hours sleep before I had to get up, get dressed, get the girls dressed, take the girls to day care, drive to the hospital to pick The Wife up and take her back home and THEN I had to go in to work.

The Mother-In-Law did help by picking up the girls and having them in bed by the time I got home. The Wife had contractions at The Hospital but they gave her something to keep Daniel in there a little while longer (perhaps this was some kind of peace offering from them to me since I’m pretty sure I made it clear when I was leaving there that Winthrop’s last home basketball game is this Saturday and I plan on going to it).

So that was my day yesterday. Hope you had a better one...

Winthrop Update: The Eagles host Liberty on Thursday.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private Otto Boehler (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 16, 1899 near San Isidro, Philippine Islands. His citation reads:

With 21 other scouts charged across a burning bridge, under heavy fire, and completely routed 600 of the enemy who were entrenched in a strongly fortified position.

Second Lieutenant Peter M. Boehm (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on March 31, 1865 at Dinwiddie Courthouse, Virginia. His citation reads:

While acting as aide to General Custer, took a flag from the hands of color bearer, rode in front of a line that was being driven back and, under a heavy fire, rallied the men, re-formed the line, and repulsed the charge.

Seaman Edward William Boers (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 21, 1905 while on board the USS Bennington. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Bennington, 21 July 1905. Following the explosion of a boiler of that vessel, Boers displayed extraordinary heroism in the resulting action.

Thoughts while watching the Sopranos

You will be happy to know that I don’t watch this show with MR. Although she could learn a lot watching it (mainly, never EVER rat on your friends)… but The Wife would get mad at me.

I think the hearing is back in my right ear. Thank you to all of the people who asked me about it and were worried for me.

I hope all of you who only cared about me posting on this blog feel bad that you didn’t care about my well being. “Who cares if you can’t hear… make me laugh, funny man!”

Just got done reading The Ones Who Hit the Hardest: The Steelers, the Cowboys, the ‘70s, and the Fight for America’s Soul by Chad Millman and Shawn Coyne. The book was a birthday gift from I’m just sayin… friend Jeremy. I highly recommend it to all of my readers. It’s a mixture of football and life as a steel worker in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

I am now reading The Roosevelts and the Royals: Franklin and Eleanor, The King and Queen of England, and the Friendship That Changed History by Will Swift. I’m only a couple of chapters into it, but so far so good.

We at I’m just sayin… would like to thank Aunt Yvonne for a wonderful meal last night. Per our tradition, we packed up the kids and took a trip to Mt. Pleasant so that Uncle George could do our taxes and Aunt Yvonne could feed us. It seems some in my family are upset with this arrangement… but what can I say, when you’re the favorite you get the best deals. That’s how it is in life. I know some people will… how shall I say… “doubt” what I’m saying, but it is what it is. Don’t get mad at me if your CPA isn’t as good to you as mine is to me.

We’ve got about 41 days until Daniel (‘lil Danny as The Wife calls him… or maybe I’m the one who calls him that… I can’t remember) gets here.

Speaking of Danny, we at I’m just sayin… would like to wish our good friend Danny a very speedy recovery. Word on the street is that he has mono. As you know, I had mono in college. If Danny is reading this, let me just say I hope you got mono the same way I did. ;) If Jen is reading this, let me just say that sonofagun better not have gotten mono the same way I did in college.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I could use a case of mono right about now. I dropped a ton of weight when I had it in college.

Winthrop Update: Winthrop lost in overtime at home to Ohio this past Saturday night. The Eagles resume Big South play on Thursday when they host Liberty.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Seaman Robert Blume (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 11, 1898 while on board the USS Nashville. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Nashville during the cutting of the cable leading from Cienfuegos, Cuba, 11 May 1898. Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Blume set an example of extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action.

First Lieutenant John W. Blunt (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek, Virginia. His citation reads:

Voluntarily led a charge across a narrow bridge over the creek, against the lines of the enemy.

Second Lieutenant John P. Bobo (US Marine Corps) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on March 30, 1967 at Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Company 1 was establishing night ambush sites when the command group was attacked by a reinforced North Vietnamese company supported by heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire. 2d Lt. Bobo immediately organized a hasty defense and moved from position to position encouraging the outnumbered marines despite the murderous enemy fire. Recovering a rocket launcher from among the friendly casualties, he organized a new launcher team and directed its fire into the enemy machine gun positions. When an exploding enemy mortar round severed 2d Lt. Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as a tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtain the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the marines. 2d Lt. Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the main point of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts, and his tenacious stand enabled the command group to gain a protective position where it repulsed the enemy onslaught. 2d Lt. Bobo's superb leadership, dauntless courage, and bold initiative reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Happy Birthday Rebecca!!!!!

We at I’m just sayin… would like to wish Rebecca (Mary Ruth and Susie’s Godmother) a very happy Birthday. My gift to her today is to get Jeremy out of her hair so she can spend a nice relaxing day with my little buddy Lucas.

The Wife and I went to see The Kings Speech last night. This movie gets the coveted I’m just sayin… recommendation. I loved it. Like all great movies (and by that I’m mainly thinking about The Godfather) the hero is the little brother. I find movies like this to be the most realistic. :) I wanted to see this movie because King George VI’s situation has been mentioned in various book s I’ve read but none of them ever went in depth about what he had to overcome. I won’t say anymore about the movie in case you haven’t seen it yet, except to say it’s nice to see a few of the people from the Harry Potter movies were able find work away from the world of magic.

Oh… I’ll also say this might be the last movie we see in a movie theatre (except, of course, for the 2nd part of the last Harry Potter movie). It cost $20 for both of us last night just to get into the place. Another $20 for drinks, popcorn, candy… and whatever The Wife paid our babysitter (which I’m sure was a good amount… my rule of thumb is if I’m going to overpay someone, it’s going to be the person taking care of our children).

And for any of you scoring at home, my hearing is still off in my right ear.

Winthrop Eagles Update: The Eagles beat CSU Thursday night to move into 3rd place in the Big South. Winthrop hosts the Evil Empire known as Coastal Carolina tonight at 7:00. Go Eagles!!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

First Lieutenant Orville Emil Bloch (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 22, 1944 near Firenzuola, Italy. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Bloch undertook the task of wiping out 5 enemy machinegun nests that had held up the advance in that particular sector for 1 day. Gathering 3 volunteers from his platoon, the patrol snaked their way to a big rock, behind which a group of 3 buildings and 5 machinegun nests were located. Leaving the 3 men behind the rock, he attacked the first machinegun nest alone charging into furious automatic fire, kicking over the machinegun, and capturing the machinegun crew of 5. Pulling the pin from a grenade, he held it ready in his hand and dashed into the face of withering automatic fire toward this second enemy machinegun nest located at the corner of an adjacent building 15 yards distant. When within 20 feet of the machinegun he hurled the grenade, wounding the machinegunner, the other 2 members of the crew fleeing into a door of the house. Calling one of his volunteer group to accompany him, they advanced to the opposite end of the house, there contacting a machinegun crew of 5 running toward this house. 1st Lt Bloch and his men opened fire on the enemy crew, forcing them to abandon this machinegun and ammunition and flee into the same house. Without a moment's hesitation, 1st Lt. Bloch, unassisted, rushed through the door into a hail of small-arms fire, firing his carbine from the hip, and captured the 7 occupants, wounding 3 of them. 1st Lt. Bloch with his men then proceeded to a third house where they discovered an abandoned enemy machinegun and detected another enemy machinegun nest at the next corner of the building. The crew of 6 spotted 1st Lt. Bloch the instant he saw them. Without a moment's hesitation he dashed toward them. The enemy fired pistols wildly in his direction and vanished through a door of the house, 1st Lt. Bloch following them through the door, firing his carbine from the hip, wounding 2 of the enemy and capturing 6. Altogether 1st Lt. Bloch had single-handedly captured 19 prisoners, wounding 6 of them and eliminating a total of 5 enemy machinegun nests. His gallant and heroic actions saved his company many casualties and permitted them to continue the attack with new inspiration and vigor.

First Lieutenant Welis H. Blodgett (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 30, 1862 at Newtonia, Missouri. His citation reads:

With a single orderly, captured an armed picket of 8 men and marched them in prisoners.

Corporal Charles Blucher (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 29, 1864 at Fort Harrison. His citation reads:

Planted first national colors on the fortifications.

Super Monday

It seems some of you were not thrilled to see a picture of a tube coming out of the back of my ear. Well, guess what? I wasn’t thrilled to HAVE a tube coming out of the back of my ear. So I guess we’re even.

I’ve still got very low hearing in my right ear. By very low, I mean pretty much not any. I can hear sounds but can’t really make out words unless you’re talking loud enough for the people next door to hear you.

Hey, last night was the Super Bowl, so let’s talk about the commercials.

The I’m just sayin… Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials

10. Chrysler


9. Pepsi MAX – Love Hurts


8.Bridgestone – Reply All


7. Cars.com


6. Pepsi MAX – First Date


5. NFL Best Fans Ever


4. Bridgestone - Carma


3. House

FOX - House - Churro (Mean Joe Green Coke parody) (2011) :30 (USA)

2. CareerBuilder


1. Volkswagen


Some of the beer commercials were good, too…

THE I’m just sayin… SUPER BOWL XLV PREDICTION Result

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers – I picked the Steelers and… well… that didn’t work out so well. But, it was a good game. It would have been better if the Steelers hadn’t turned the ball over 3 times, but that’s life. It would have been real nice if Big Ben hadn’t thrown two interceptions (one returned for a TD), but it’s hard for me to be mad at him (since he’s already won 2 Super Bowls… let that be a lesson to you Neil Freakin’ O’Donnell). So anyway, congrats to the Green Bay Packers and so on and so forth. I’m not going to point any fingers or anything like that, but I’m pretty sure I made it very clear to The Wife that we were to have NO cheese in our house during the game… so she had Jeremy and Rebecca bring over two pizzas. “Oh Greg, you’re so stupid. Us eating cheese during the game won’t cause the Steelers to lose,” she said to me while rolling her eyes. That’s funny… because when the game ended I’m pretty sure I SAW THE STEELERS WITH FEWER POINTS THAN THE PACKERS! But I’m not here to place blame, though if Hines Ward shows up at my house wanting to know if we had cheese in my house during the game... well, by God I’m not going to lie to him. Whatever… you know what? I don’t even want to talk about it right now…

Winthrop Update: The Eagles next game is Thursday against CSU.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Corporal Milton Blickensderfer (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 3, 1865 at Petersburg, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag.

Captain George N. Bliss (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 28, 1864 at Waynesboro, Virginia. His citation reads:

While in command of the provost guard in the village, he saw the Union lines returning before the attack of a greatly superior force of the enemy, mustered his guard, and, without orders, joined in the defense and charged the enemy without support. He received three saber wounds, his horse was shot, and he was taken prisoner.

Colonel Zenas R. Bliss (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions during the Civil War. His citation reads:

This officer, to encourage his regimen; which had never before been in action, and which had been ordered to lie down to protect itself from the enemy's fire, arose to his feet, advanced in front of the line, and himself fired several shots at the enemy at short range, being fully exposed to their fire at the time.

Happy Birthday Aunt Yvonne!!!!!

All of us at I’m just sayin… would like to wish all of you named Aunt Yvonne a very happy birthday! You will remember, of course, that I am tied with my cousin ***** as Aunt Yvonne’s 2 favorite children. I promised her I wouldn’t say which two of her “real” children are ranked in the bottom 2. :)

So, since my last post I’ve fallen a little under the weather. Here is a rough play-by-play after my last post (Thursday night).

Call The Wife to let her know I’m on my way home.

Call The Parents to talk to them (Dad answers). (***Note: I am what some would call a creature of habit. You know, the kind of guy who would keep a Sunday School class from starting until someone got out of his seat so he could sit down. Anyway, for many years upon leaving work I’d call The Wife to let her know I’m on my way and then I’d call MaMa and, time permitting, The Parents. Of course, with MaMa now gone, I now call The Wife and The Parents. The Wife knows that once my call with her has ended, I will be on the phone with The Parents… so if she wants to tell me something she needs to do it when I call her or wait until I get home. End Note***)

The Wife calls… and calls… leaves a voicemail… and calls.

I interrupt my call with Dad to answer The Wife. She tells me to pick up a pizza and some ice on my way home.

I get back on the phone with Dad (and later Mom).

I pick up the pizza and ice and go home.

At some point after eating (a little before 7:00) the hearing in my right ear goes out. Mind you, my right ear is the one that has been operated on twice already. So, a little after tip-off of the Winthrop/Gardner-Webb game my ear starts hurting… BAD. So I go to the drug store to try and find something to help me.

I get back in time for the second half of the game. It was a thriller! But the stuff I found at the drug store wasn’t working. It was so bad I HAD to go to the doctor, it hurt so bad. But did I mention the game was a THRILLER?! So I wait to leave until the game is over (WU won 60-57 on a 3 pointer at the buzzer).

I get to the after-hours doctor around 9:40pm. He sees me sometime before 11:00. He says I have an ear infection. He also says, “Your ear looks like hell… but I have no idea how it should look after your two surgeries”. I told him that I’ve seen it enough that if I could get a look now I could tell him if it looks off. We then spent a couple of minutes talking about what cool equipment the ENTs have. He then calls in a prescription for me and sends me on my way.

I go sit at the drug store for about an hour waiting for my prescription to be filled and then get home around 11:45. I grab something to eat so I can take my meds and then get to bed around midnight.

I wake up Friday morning with my right ear still not working. It’s not that I can’t hear anything, it’s just that my hearing is below normal. Stick some cotton in your ear, then get a shirt and hold it to your ear real tight and that’s about how well I can hear out of my right ear.

So, I go to work and The Wife (in between her morning visits) calls my doctor to get the ok for me to go to my ENT and then calls my ENT to get me in there. (fyi… she’s awesome). I go to my ENT to get my hearing checked (it’s below normal) and he tells me not to worry. It’s just fluid behind my ear and the drugs the other doc gave me and come back to see him in a couple of weeks.

So, that’s what I’ve had going on. The only other bad thing is that the medicine I’m taking for this ear infection can, from time to time, make me sick. But, what can you do?

Oh, if you’ve never had an ear infection (or haven’t had one in over 10 years) don’t start now. I hate them.

Oh, if any of you out there think I may be overreacting to an ear infection… let me show you what ended up happening the last time my ear
hurt and my hearing left me:

Oh, I'm sorry... Did you not want to see a picture of a tube coming out the back of my ear? Well you should have thought of that before you thought I was overreacting to an ear infection.

I have more I’d like to say, but I’m tired so that’s all for today.

THE I’m just sayin… SUPER BOWL XLV PREDICTION

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers – Sunday @ 6:25pm (FOX): I could write some long thing here about each team and how I think this game is going to go… but I don’t really feel like it. The bottom line is this: All the “experts” I’ve been hearing on the radio have picked Green Bay. All that does is make me even more confident in my pick that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to WIN this game. GO STEELERS!

Winthrop Update: The Eagles got a big road win today over UNCA! Their next game is Thursday against CSU.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private Thomas A. Blasdel (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His citation reads:

Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."

Sergeant David B. Bleak (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on June 14, 1952 near Minari-gol, Korea. His citation reads:

Sgt. Bleak, a member of the medical company, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. As a medical aidman, he volunteered to accompany a reconnaissance patrol committed to engage the enemy and capture a prisoner for interrogation. Forging up the rugged slope of the key terrain, the group was subjected to intense automatic weapons and small arms fire and suffered several casualties. After administering to the wounded, he continued to advance with the patrol. Nearing the military crest of the hill, while attempting to cross the fire-swept area to attend the wounded, he came under hostile fire from a small group of the enemy concealed in a trench. Entering the trench he closed with the enemy, killed 2 with bare hands and a third with his trench knife. Moving from the emplacement, he saw a concussion grenade fall in front of a companion and, quickly shifting his position, shielded the man from the impact of the blast. Later, while ministering to the wounded, he was struck by a hostile bullet but, despite the wound, he undertook to evacuate a wounded comrade. As he moved down the hill with his heavy burden, he was attacked by 2 enemy soldiers with fixed bayonets. Closing with the aggressors, he grabbed them and smacked their heads together, then carried his helpless comrade down the hill to safety. Sgt. Bleak's dauntless courage and intrepid actions reflect utmost credit upon himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service.

Second Lieutenant Erwin R. Bleckley (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 6, 1918 near Binarville, France. His citation reads:

2d Lt. Bleckley, with his pilot, 1st Lt. Harold E. Goettler, Air Service, left the airdrome late in the afternoon on their second trip to drop supplies to a battalion of the 77th Division, which had been cut off by the enemy in the Argonne Forest. Having been subjected on the first trip to violent fire from the enemy, they attempted on the second trip to come still lower in order to get the packages even more precisely on the designated spot. In the course of his mission the plane was brought down by enemy rifle and machinegun fire from the ground, resulting in fatal wounds to 2d Lt. Bleckley, who died before he could be taken to a hospital. In attempting and performing this mission 2d Lt. Bleckley showed the highest possible contempt of personal danger, devotion to duty, courage, and valor.

Back by popular demand!

Sorry I’ve been away but with the end of I’m just sayin...’s fiscal year coming up (March 1) I had some leave time that I needed to use up.

Let me start off today by wishing long-time I’m just sayin... reader, Ashley, a very Happy Birthday! Ashley turned 34 this past Sunday and I hope she had a great day.

Hey, did you hear Ben Roethlisberger went out last night to a (GASP!) piano bar with some teammates and (GASP!) drank beer! What is the world coming to?! Honestly, what this tells me is that there are too many “news” outlets in this country. I like to listen to sports radio during the day (when not listening to the TKS) and they talked about this waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. If he does something bad... fine, talk about it all day long. But this was nothing.

So, I saw where the leader of Egypt announced he wasn’t going to run in the next election. That’s probably a good idea... though from where I’m sitting in my I’m just sayin... office, I think it might be a good idea for him to run out of Egypt.

As I'm sure you know, today is known as the "Day the Music Died".  To honor this day, the only music I listened to today was Don McLean's American Pie.  If you don't know why today is called the "Day the Music Died", listen to the song and figure it out.  If you still can't figure it out, look it up.  If you still can't figure it out, ask me and I'll tell you (and then probably make fun of you on here... but I'm sure that goes without saying).

It seems some students from one school at a local high school basketball game started chanting “F*** You” to the students at the other school. How does this happen? Who thinks this is a good idea? I would have been scared to death to do something like this. I’m STILL scared to death to do something like this. As their favorite, I usually talk to my parents about once a day. The last thing I want is to call one night and have Mom or Dad say “Mrs. Owens said she saw you at the Winthrop basketball game yelling ‘F*** You’ at fans for the other team”. It seems I’m not the only one to feel this way. There was a discussion of sorts on Facebook the other night about this. It was somewhat funny, knowing what I know about some of the people on there, but most agreed that this kind of thing isn’t good. Listen, I’m not going to tell you I was a saint when I attended or played in sporting events in high school... but I like to think I knew when to watch what I was saying. You don’t even want to guess what kinds of things are said on a baseball field during practice... but you’ve got to know better than to say that stuff when parents and young kids are around. It amazes me that kids can be so stupid sometimes.

Speaking of stupid, an alert I’m just saying... reader let me know about what happened on Jeopardy last night. The Final Jeopardy category was US Presidents and the question was something like Of the 20 presidents elected to a second term, name 2 of the 3 who failed to complete that term.

The answer, of course, is Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley and Richard Nixon. I admit, if you had to name all three, I would have gotten it wrong (I forgot about McKinley)... but I would have gotten 2 out of 3. It seems all three contestants got it wrong. That’s sad, but it’s not the stupid part. One guy guessed Lincoln and Kennedy. Wrong, but I understand it. One guy guessed Nixon and then he went blank. He froze up... it happens. The defending champ (who was also the leader by a good bit going into Final Jeopardy) guessed... wait for it... wait for iiiiitttttt... Nixon and FDR. That’s part 1 of the stupid part. I can understand the other guys only being able to come up with one correct name. But FDR? That really blows my mind. I think Lincoln was shot early in his second term... so I can understand not being sure on him. I think Nixon's problems started late during his first term, so I can understand not being sure about him. Everyone knows Kennedy was shot, so I can see being caught up in the moment and thinking of him. Honestly, FDR? I'm pretty sure he died while in his FOURTH term of office. That's just bad. Part 2 of the stupid part is that she bet everything. So, even though she had a big lead AND the other two guys got the answer wrong... she will not be advancing because the guy who was in 2nd place didn’t bet everything... so he was the only one left with any money at the end of the game. But really, FDR? That’s just dumb.

Winthrop Update: My Eagles have been in a rough patch these past couple of games, but they look to rebound and get back into the win column tonight at Gardner-Webb. Go Eagles!!!!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Contraband Robert Blake (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on December 25, 1863 on board the US Steam Gunboat Marblehead in the Stono River. His citation reads:

On board the U.S. Steam Gunboat Marblehead off Legareville, Stono River, 25 December 1863, in an engagement with the enemy on John's Island. Serving the rifle gun, Blake, an escaped slave, carried out his duties bravely throughout the engagement which resulted in the enemy's abandonment of positions, leaving a caisson and one gun behind.

Specialist Fourth Class Michael R. Blanchfield (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 3, 1969 at Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Blanchfield distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company A on a combat patrol. The patrol surrounded a group of houses to search for suspects. During the search of 1 of the huts, a man suddenly ran out toward a nearby tree line. Sp4c. Blanchfield, who was on guard outside the hut, saw the man, shouted for him to halt, and began firing at him as the man ignored the warning and continued to run. The suspect suddenly threw a grenade toward the hut and its occupants. Although the exploding grenade severely wounded Sp4c. Blanchfield and several others, he regained his feet to continue the pursuit of the enemy. The fleeing enemy threw a second grenade which landed near Sp4c. Blanchfield and several members of his patrol. Instantly realizing the danger, he shouted a warning to his comrades. Sp4c. Blanchfield unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self-sacrifice, he was able to save the lives and prevent injury to 4 members of the patrol and several Vietnamese civilians in the immediate area. Sp4c. Blanchfield's extraordinary courage and gallantry at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Scout N/A Blanquet (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions during the Winter of 1872-73. His citation reads:

Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.