I'm Going To Stop Carrying My Cell Phone

The date was Sunday, August 13th 2017.  That will be important later.  I had just finished a long, yet productive, night at work.  I decided to buy some groceries before heading home so I stopped at the Kroger just down the street from work.  It was around 9:30 pm and I was about to head to the check out when a woman starts yelling at me from across the store, "Where do I know you from?"  She didn't look familiar to me at all, so I just said, "No idea."

She starts walking up to me, making what seem to be random guesses that are no where close to who I am, things like "Didn't you teach a class at college?" After a few guesses I tell her I've been working at Big Lots forever and that's where most people know me from (I took my mom to the hospital once at 2:00 am and a custodian called me 'Big Lots guy'...It happens everywhere I go).  She says that she used to work for Popeye's across from the Mishawaka store and she must remember me going there for lunch.  Entirely possible, but I don't remember her.
Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable.  I'm not used to women being this forward.  I'm used to being the nice guy women just want to be friends with.  So I pulled my phone out of my pocket and was hoping that if I start checking my phone it would serve as some sort of signal that I'm not interested in talking to her.  She appearantly took that as a different sign.

She actually grabbed my phone out of my hand, used my phone to call her phone, and said, I've got your number now.  I'm going to call you later."  Now I know what you're thinking..."Go Jason!  Get them digits!"  Hold off on that reaction until you read the whole story.

I should point out, when she first yelled at me from across the store, there was a guy there with her.  She made a comment that he was her sister's husband and they were shopping.  Seemed like an odd time to be shopping with your brother in law.

So I get my phone back and we go our separate ways.  The incident triggered my social anxiety so severely that I was mumbling, "Please don't call me...Please don't call me" over and over on the drive home.  I posted about it online, trying to figure out if its normal for a woman to grab a guys phone like that.  Someone suggested I Google my number and see what she can find out about me.  I tried it, and no surprise, my life is pretty boring.

So then I Googled her number, and I think its safe to say I found out a lot more about her than I found about me.  Her picture and her number came up on several websites that guys can use to leave reviews for the escorts they hire...sort of an Angie's List for prostitutes.  One website said she had posted over 500 ads in the South Bend/Fort Wayne area in 2017, with the most recent one being posted on Sunday, August 13th 2017...the very same day she grabbed my phone at Krogers.

So I blocked her number, because I'm really not interested in hearing from her.

I guess the moral of the story is its a good thing I don't have a girlfriend right now, because it would be hard to explain how that number got in my phone. "Honey, I swear!  She just grabbed my phone and called herself!"

Thanks for reading.

The Truth Is...

My name is Murrell, and I've had a breakthrough politically.  The reason political ads get so negative and nasty is because neither party has done anything worth bragging about, so their only chance to get elected is to make the other party look evil.  After each debate I hear all the "fact checkers" pointing out all the lies one party told, but somehow they never talk about the lies BOTH candidates tell.  The problem is both candidates lie.  I didn't see much of the last debate between Obama and Romney, but I did see the exchange over whether or not Romney said Detroit should go bankrupt.  The answer is simple and complicated.  They are both lying, and they are both telling the truth.

Romney did write an op-ed piece for the New York Times where the title said something like "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt".  If you read the article, it does mention the government should provide certain guarantees for the auto industry.  Yes, Romney did say let Detroit go bankrupt, so Obama was right about that.  But Romney was right in that he did say there should be the government protection he mentioned in the debate.  So both Romney and Obama are lying and telling the truth at the same time.   

When the government was fighting for Obamacare to pass, both sides had their spin machines out in full force.  One party would run an ad saying it would strengthen Medicare and do all sorts of wonderful things, and the very next ad was the other party saying it would kill Medicare and practically lead to the destruction of all man-kind.  Who am I supposed to believe when I don't trust either one?  I keep hearing from the media that the Republicans are in love with insurance companies, but wasn't it the Democrats who passed a law requiring me to buy insurance? 

Take your political party out of the equation for a moment.  If I had told you right before the 2008 election that whoever replaces Bush (and remember how unpopular Bush was) in the White House will see the unemployment rate will get worse (6.7% in November '08 compared to 7.8% now), the National Debt will grow from $10 trillion to over $16 trillion, the price of gas will be almost $2 a gallon higher, and the troops in the Middle East would still not be home, would you think for a second that the candidate had any chance of re-election?  Not only that, would you believe that people are calling it a "recovery"?

I've always believed Democrats and Republicans are, for the most part, identical.  President Bush spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support a war very few people believed in.  President Obama has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support economic and health care plans very few people believe in.  The media portrays Mitt Romney as a millionaire who never balanced a budget and who wants to raise taxes on the middle class.  The media loves President Obama despite the fact that he is a millionaire who hasn't balanced a budget and has already raised taxes on the middle class.  (Obamacare only survived the Supreme Court because they determined it was a tax, and it's not going to be the upper class that pays it because they don't have health care.)  There are Obama supporters criticizing Romney for agreeing too much with the President during the foreign policy debate.  Have you ever criticized someone for agreeing with you?   And somehow, Romney says the government can't create jobs yet still has a plan to create 12 million jobs if he's elected.  I'd love to know how that works.

Ultimately, both parties lie.  They tell you their version of the truth, not to convince you their way is the right way, but more to convince you the other way is not just wrong...it's dangerous.

The truth should not be subject to the interpretation of your political agenda.  It should just be the truth.

Thanks for reading.

It's My Fault Peyton Is Gone

My name is Murrell, and I'm going to tell why the only person you can blame for Peyton Manning no longer being with the Colts....is me.  I remember it all too well.  The date was January 8th, 2011.  I was scheduled to work both of my jobs that day but we had gotten hammered with about 30" of snow in the last 24 hours.  I had famously taken this picture:

I battled though the snow to get to work at the store that morning.  I was probably like 45 minutes late, but I was there.  We ended up closing early due the terrible conditions, so I decided to drive immediately to the radio station so I could work my other job.  I was scheduled to air the broadcast of the Colts-Jets playoffs game that evening.  I was there about 90 minutes early, but it made far more sense to just drive straight to the radio station and kill time there than it would have to drive home in those conditions and drive to the station later.

As I was waiting for the game to start, Rob, one of the program directors for the radio station, walked in and informed me that since there was a snow emergency I wasn't obligated to stay and run the game.  I told him I would stay because I didn't think it was fair me to work one job but not the other one.  He understood and told me to be careful when I left that night.  As soon he left, I started to rethink my decision to stay.  It was going to be a late game, and I'd probably have to be there until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, and there was supposed to be more snow coming.  But since I had said I would stay, I stayed.

A few minutes after Rob left, he came right back.  This was still before the pre-game show had even started.  He talked to me again about going home, and even though it was my decision, he made it pretty clear he would have felt better if I did NOT stay and work that night.  So, I decided to go home.

I went home and relaxed, watching the very same Colts-Jets playoff game on TV.  As soon as the game started, my brother called.  He always called me and asked what radio station the game was on because he didn't have a TV at work.  I told him the game wasn't on the radio that night, and if it were, I would have been there airing it.

David was clearly not happy with me that night.  Not only was he not able to listen to a Colts playoff game, it was his own brother's decision to not work that night that led to it not being on the air.

I don't remember his exact words, but his tone was menacing.  He had no concern for my safety and well being.  He said something like, "You have no idea what the ramifications of this decision will be.  You have just cursed the Colts franchise."

Well at the time, I just thought it was his way of blaming me if the Colts would happen to lose (which they did).  Little did either of us know that would be the very last game Peyton Manning would play for the Indianapolis Colts. 

I'm not sure what the exact series of events were, but clearly there was a butterfly effect from my not working that night that led to Peyton Manning's neck injury in May, his multiple surgeries, the 2-14 season, the #1 pick in the upcoming draft, and ultimately Peyton's release and signing with Denver.  Had I known the consequences, I would have stayed. 

To all Colts fans, I'm sorry.

Thank you for reading.

My Name is Murrell

My name is Murrell, and I'm going to try and make this my last post on Joe Paterno, unless new information comes out.  Don't feel sorry for Joe Paterno.  How much is really being punished by getting fired?  His coaching career was coming to a close anyway.  I saw one report say that Penn State may have to pay him the rest of his contact because he's not been accused of anything criminal, but it's not like I've read his contract to know that for sure.  So other than a tarnised legacy, how much has he really lost?

And how on Earth does McCreary still have his job?  He's the one who witnessed the shower incident and chose to leave and call his Dad.  Had he spoken up then, he'd be protected under whistle-blower laws had he gotten fired.  That's doesn't apply now.  If you fire the coach and school president for failure to act, you have to fire the one who saw it with his own eyes.

To do nothing more than tell Sandusky to not bring kids on campus is beyond words...and they didn't even enforce that.  He brought another kid to practice in 2007 and they were seemingly ok with it.  They didn't even take his office away.  Paterno didn't even question Sandusky about the incident.  Feel bad for the children, especially the ones that might have been spared this tragedy had Joe Pa and his crew done something

My name is Murrell, and most of you probably know I'm a Cubs fan.  I just read a thread on cubs.com suggesting the Cubs quit playing the "Go Cubs Go" song after a Cubs win.  Now someday in the future, I'll probably support not playing the song.  But now is not that time. 

First of all, they only play the song after the Cubs win, and the Cubs are terrible.  They are still the only team in baseball without a 3 game winning streak.  It's not like you've heard the song a bunch this year.  How sick of it can you be?  It's not exactly getting the airplay of "Hey Soul Sister" by Train (which is inescapable).

Secondly, they are are so many other traditions that need to be dumped.  I think the Rickets family should send out a memo to all Cubs players, broadcasters, front office staff, mail room clerks, hot dog vendors, and anyone else who can read that if anyone so much as mentions a 'curse' they'll fined 3 weeks pay.  The 'Curse of the Billy Goat" was a cute story, but after 60+ years, I'm tired of it.  No Curses.  No Excuses.

Also, take down that sign across the street that shows how many years it's been since the Cubs have won the division, NL pennant, and World Series.  Why do we need a huge reminder of our failures pointed out every day?

As for the future, the Cubs have over $50 million coming off the books this offseason, so they'll have some money to make some moves and get better.  And to be honest, the Cubs only have 4 real problems.  They can't hit.  Their starting pitching is bad.  The bullpen can't throw strikes.  And their defense is awful.  So once they fix those, everything will be just fine. =)

Thanks for reading.

No Wonder I'm Still Single

My name is Murrell, and I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to women.  When it comes to women, everything I do is wrong.  Women turn me down for a date and try to convince their doing me a favor.  I just always get it wrong.  For example, I was driving home from work today, and I stopped at a light, maybe 5 or 6 cars back.  I saw a pretty red-haired girl walking her dog.  I immediately begin to have an inner dialouge with myself, thinking how nice it would be to a completely different person that I might have the confidence to roll down my window and ask for her number, strike up a conversation, something along those lines.  She looks over at me, and gives me a weird look.  That's when I notice that the light had turned green and all of the cars in front of me were gone.  So basically it looked like I had stopped in the middle of the street to check her out...yeah, that's not creepy. 

No wonder I'm still single.  I can't even  stare at women properly.

Thanks for reading.

My name is Murrell, and I keep seeing billboards around town that annoy me.  Newstalk 960 has billboards that say, "It's a crazy world.  Stay informed." and show a picture of Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan.  I have 2 complaints. 

1) It's a sad sign when Sheen or Lohan are the faces that inspire people follow "the news".

2) Wouldn't it make more sense to put MY picture on these billboards?  Then when people see the billboards, they will think, "Who the hell is THAT guy?!  I'd better get informed!" 

Thanks for reading.