Author: dickking44

By:  Richard L. King

I’m a big fan of the Miami Heat team in the NBA. Duane Wade recently retired and now that he has I feel that I can express my opinion. For years I have privately steamed at some of his antics. He has always been such a revered star that the sports writers never seemed to criticize him.

I myself have always wondered how a person with the coordination of a star basketball player, and Wade was a star who was exceptionally coordinated, how could that person always seem to fall down after a simple jump shot or after so many layups? I decided early on that McDonalds didn’t do him any favors with that advertisement in his first or second year, (the one where they praised him for falling down seven times and getting up eight). Certainly, they didn’t do any of the rest of us any favors. After that ad it seemed like he took it to heart and there just wasn’t any way he could stay on his feet.

Not only that, but he always embellished it each time he went down. He’d throw his feet up over his head and make it look like just a terrible mishap. The problem with all of that is, as play continued, he’d still be getting up off the floor and would be out of the next play.   Not to take anything away from the star that he was, but I just never understood how so many less coordinated athletes could stay on their feet when Wade couldn’t.  I blame it all on that ad.

I have also always been troubled by the numerous times Wade would still be in the backcourt when all of his teammates had gotten back on defense. Some of that was because he had been down on the floor, but many of those times it was because he had stopped to complain about the lack of a call by the referee. Many a lesser star has been chastised by his coach or by the media for such a transgression, but I do not recall every hearing anyone criticize Wade because of it.

Unfortunately, during this last basketball season Wade’s propensity to complain about “not getting the call” seems to have spread like the plague. I wish Coach Spolestra would talk to his players about all the griping they do to the referee’s. It’s an epidemic. Josh Richardson is one of the most likely to complain and you can see him, long after the play, still shaking his head. If I were his coach he’d either discontinue that or he’d be riding the bench. Referees notice that sort of stuff and contrary to what you might believe, it doesn’t make them any more likely to give you the benefit of the next call. What’s worst, after the 3 or 4 replays they show us it is usually obvious that the call was correct. Just once it would be nice if the player would just shut up and play the game. That goes for Justice Winslow, James Johnson, Hassan Whiteside and Kelly Olynick too.

Tyler Johnson used to be a big complainer too. Often you’d see someone at the line shooting free throws and Tyler would be in the background still grousing to the referee.  You see where that got him, don’t you? Traded!   Of course that big contract probably had as much to do with that as anything, but he was on the referee’s case far too often.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #309

About: Self-confidence

“He thinks he’s an “ace,”
…but he ain’t spellin it right.”

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As a new feature, we will be adding hints from one of our Hints Books to our posts.
Today’s hint is from THE HINTS BOOK ALMANAC  II

 CLEANING/KITCHEN – Clean your copper, brass and stainless steel kitchen sinks by making a paste of salt and lemon juice. Scrub gently and rinse with water. Dry with a soft cloth. For copper bottomed pots, spray the bottom with white vinegar. Let sit and sprinkle with salt. Wipe to a shine. Another possibility is to mix equal parts of salt and ammonia to remove the ‘green’ from brass and/or copper. Still another possibility to clean and/or shine copper or brass, combine equal parts salt and flour. Add enough white vinegar to make a paste. Rub the paste on with a soft cloth and let sit for about an hour. Wipe off and buff. And finally, for those copper pots that you want to hang to display, but they don’t look their best, try Worcestershire® sauce on them to clean and shine them. The sauce breaks down the grease that accumulates on them. Rub the sauce on them until clean, then rinse and buff.

AFTERGLOW
©Richard L. King
From the book Memories & Time

Dried kisses
remain upon his lips.

Ravenous memories
devour his waking hours.

Radiant visions persist,
dictating his demeanor.

Melodic words linger upon his ears,
igniting his imagination.

Luxurious scents
linger upon his pillow.

Elegant footprints
adorn his garden path.

Moon rising over the Atlantic
…he awaits the anticipated return.

Through it all he remains
.… lost in the afterglow.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #214

About: Aging

 “Live like life’s expiration date is imminent.
Soon enough you’ll find out, ….it is! ”

 I live in a senior citizens condominium community where everyone owns their own unit. We all pay a monthly maintenance fee which I consider to be very reasonable and which has seen minimal increases over the years. That fee is to cover the expense of hiring all the service personnel required to keep the community looking really nice. In addition, our monthly fees pay for garbage removal, cable TV, water & sewer and probably several other things that I’m forgetting to mention. Our entire complex is magnificently maintained. The lawns are mowed weekly including edging and trimming, the trees and shrubs are trimmed on a regular basis and replaced as needed. The trash dumpsters, which are emptied on a regular basis, are all contained inside of concrete walls which for the most part are well hidden by shrubbery. In short, we live in our own little piece of paradise. It’s a place that I’m proud to call home and show off to my snow-bird friends who visit each year.

However, there are times when I get frustrated about some of the individuals who also live here. The majority of them are kind and caring people who don’t cause any problems and don’t spend all of their time complaining. But there is that very tiny minority of them who seem to live only to make life as miserable as possible for everyone else.

At our annual owners meeting those are the people who get up to speak and when I say speak, I mean bitch. They can’t seem to find anything about living here that pleases them and rather than simply ask a question about whatever is bothering them they tear into the manager or the attorney or a member of our Board of Directors, who incidentally are not paid, but volunteer for that position.

I’m of the belief that they are the same people who can’t or won’t pick up after themselves. Likely it is they who go to the pool and move the furniture around to suit their needs then just get up and walk away without putting it back where it belongs. They are without a doubt the same people who use the various floating devices provided for everyone’s entertainment then, rather than put them back in the containers provided for that purpose, simply throw them in that general direction, leaving them for someone else to pick up.

They’re also probably the same people who bring beer to the pool and sit around drinking it even though the rules prohibiting that sort of thing are prominently posted. Maybe they are the ones who bring their grandchildren to the pool, but can’t be bothered enough to supervise them properly. Running, screaming, jumping in the pool or babies in diapers are not proper use of the community pool in a senior citizen community and those rules are also posted for all to see. We purchased our unit in a senior citizen community for a reason and it wasn’t to listen to someone else’s misbehaving grandchildren.

Geeze-O-Pete, hope I haven’t just turned into one of the very people I’m complaining about…

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #401

About: Life’s Lessons

  “They’s some things best left unsaid,
but it’s damn hard
figurin out which ones.”

TIME TOUCHES EVERYTHING
© By: Richard L. King
From the book Memories & Time

There’s nothing known to man that time doesn’t touch,
including dreams, relationships, memory’s and such.

Time is often a factor in the things we do or say
often it’s our teacher as we meander along our way.

Time can move mountains or it can alter streams,
it can be unforgiving as it steals most all your dreams.

Time might stoop your shoulders or maybe alter your walk,
it might slow your mind or make it difficult to talk.

Time will cause skin to wrinkle and could gray your hair
or make you go bald, though likely you’ll no longer care.

Memories of old joys might be taken away,
not wanting to leave, they simply cannot stay.

Time doesn’t allow anyone to enjoy a second take,
but it can zap your energy and all your bones will ache.

It will steal your memory refusing to treat you fair,
as you spend more and more of it, in your easy chair.

Time will always move forward, it can never move back
as it creates the trail, then obliterates the tracks.

But as it takes its toll and you approach your final days
may your life be filled with love and all sorts of things to praise.

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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #329

About: Intelligence

“It’s never too late
to shut up & listen.”

© By: Richard L. King
From the book: Memories & Time

MY CHILD

We stroll into and out of
our conscious minds,

frequently passing through
each other’s thoughts.

Carrying on,,,,
sunrise to sunset,

day in,    ….day out
each doing our own thing.

Days turning into weeks,
…then to months.

…eventually a lifetime
has come and gone,,,

yet always, you are here

…in my heart

….Always.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #404

About: Confidence

If you believe you can, you jist might,
if you believe you can’t, you won’t!