Day 16

Another week, another hurricane warning. I just don't understand what is going on here. When we were growing up, I barely remember any sort of hurricane ever hitting land. The only one I can recall was Hurricane Hugo, and the only reason I remember that is because it destroyed the Tribe's spring training stadium in Winter Haven, Florida. So they say Hurricane Wilma is going to hit Florida at around Sunday. Why do I care enough to write about this? First off, Hurricane Katrina has destroyed a large part of the Gulf Coast, but it has also put hit on the industry I work in. Price increases on plastics are abound and have caused a ton of unrest with my customers and their end users. But there is a larger factors at play.

The world we live in - the year 2005 - things are taking a strange turn for the worse. Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything in its path, a huge earthquake kills thousands and wrecks Pakistan, the Tsunami in southeast Asia. Throw in man made tragedies including terrorists setting off bombs in the London Underground and this ridiculous war we continue to fight in Iraq and lose our soldiers. This all essentially has gone on in the last year. Maybe it is the excessive amounts of media coverage we have at our disposal that have me more wary, or that I am getting older and paying more attention to the world around me and not just what the Tribe is doing. There is a disturbing trend of natural disasters that must be looked at through a microscope. Is this the product of global warming or is it just coincidence? All I know is that the great "plan that God has for us all" really seems to be nothing more than one tragedy after another. Take into account that its still been less than a year since I lost my father, my mother's cancer, and all of my other family issues. You can obviously understand why I am extremely jaded.

I know that a lot of times I sound like a whiner, a pessimist, a glass half-empty guy. Well, I am. But I also know how lucky I am to have a great family, an amazing wife, great friends, a good job, and incredible memories to look back on and smile. I'm just still waiting for my lucky break, my good news, my lottery ticket to cash in this strange journey we call life. I try to stay positive and know that good things are around the corner and things in my next year cannot get any worse than they last year, so that is a start.

Song of The Day: "They Reminisce Over You" by Pete Rock & CL Smooth. One of the best background samples in old school hip house. A haunting sax solo.