Child sacrifice? Hmmmmm

During the week of Fourth of July, our community has a church service in the park.

The danger of that is combining the solemnity of worship with the temptation of swings and slides less than 100 yards away.

As the two youngest boys - ages 6 and 3 - ignored repeated warnings and threats to be quiet, my wife gave in an took them to the playground. (Or maybe she was trying to get away from the service? Hmmm.....)

I contemplated the punishment that awaited the youngest offenders. I mentally tallied the times we urged them to not talk aloud - about 347 at last count - and planned to keep them in time out until next year's church service.

Then the minister started his sermon.

He talked about God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. "OK," I thought. "God is telling me how to punish my kids." While I was thinking how to explain to the police my divine intervention, the minister switched gears to talk about how we need to let our kids be kids: i.e. - baseball is supposed to be fun, not a life-or-death career path.

The minister also talked about making sure our kids are responsible and live faithfully in the world. Those magazines' and their ideas on beauty? Not important.

In the end, there was no punishment. No sacrifice. Just a stern talking to with a warning on how to behave at the next public event. Then we let them loose in the backyard. To have fun.

Swimming in the polar region

For the first time in recorded history, one thing may be missing from the normally frigid North Pole : Ice.

Scientists are predicting a thin layer of ice may disappear by August or September.

It's unclear yet what impact this may have on the planet. Does this mean the climate is changing more rapidly than earlier predictions? Or is the Earth going through normal ebb and flow in its polar regions?

I'm not a tree-hugger, per se. But I do use the low-energy light bulbs, keep the AC at a respectable temperature, walk or bike when I can and recycle, recycle, recycle. The U.S. Department of Energy has a list of tips for people interested in saving energy.

One person alone can't make a difference. But one person times a few million - better yet, a few billion - can have an impact.

Whatever happened to the good old days when the worst thing we worried about were starving kids in Third World countries if we didn't eat our peas and carrots?

Taking a spin around town

Remember when the cool thing in a big city was a rotating rooftop restaurant? Indianapolis has one, and other cities do, too.

The tiny, but rich, city of Dubai - part of the United Arab Emirates - is going one better: An entire building that rotates. Actually, it's not even the entire building, but each floor can rotate independent of the others.

But what's really cool about this building is that it will use wind and solar power that not only generates enough power for itself, but for 10 surrounding sites.

Dubai is becoming a paradise for architects with some of the most innovate construction projects anywhere. In the process, it's becoming a hot international tourist spot. It's a smart move for a small country to position itself for the future when the oil runs out.

Heave! Ho! Oh, no!

Father's Day is supposed to be a day of relaxation for dad, right?

Wrong! My wife decided it would be a good day to head to Menard's to buy patio bricks (we don't even have a patio) and mulch for the yard.

I loaded up the large utility cart with 45 brick pavers (approx. 10 to 15 lbs. each) and eight bags of wet, heavy mulch.

When showering that night, I noticed a large bulge above my belly button about the diameter of a half dollar and protruding about a quarter-inch outward. My nurse-trained wife and I figured it was a hernia, and did a little research to find out more.

It didn't hurt, although there was some mild discomfort. Still, I went to my doctor, who referred me to a surgeon, who said, "Yeah, we're going to have to repair that." This hernia is basically a tear in the abdominal wall.

The main concern - as we found online and confirmed by the surgeon - is that the hernia could interfere with the bowels and possibly causing a serve infection. So guys, there are worse things than surgery for a hernia - such as gangrene in your bowels.

My only beef with the surgeon was when he asked about pain. I said there was mild discomfort, but no big deal. Then he proceeded to push his hand about three inches into my midsection and asked how that felt. I'm sure that wouldn't have felt good with or without a hernia.

Surgery is scheduled July 16, so I'll let you know how that goes. Depending on what type of painkillers I'm on, it could be an interesting post.

Teen preggers: An update

The story of whether a group of Massachusetts teens made a pact to be pregnant may be unfounded. The story now is that the teens got pregnant, and then decided to form a type of support group since they were all in a similar situation.

That's certainly a better story than planning to get pregnant together.

In a way, these kids may enjoy their 40s better than some of us. At least their kids will be grown up and out of the house (assuming they stop at one). I'd boot my kids out, but the local child protective service folks wouldn't like four pre-teens wandering the streets.

The Sandberg Game

Twenty-four years ago - June 23, 1984 -I was sitting in Wrigley Field watching the Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals.

For most of the game, it was miserable. The Cubs trailed 7-1, then 9-3. A bunch of us Cub fans sitting under the upper deck overhang on the third base side of stand had to put up with a loud-mouthed Cardinals fan during the game. The Cubs rallied to make it 9-8, but the outcome looked dismal as the Cardinals featured one of the game's best relievers, Bruce Sutter.

Leading off the ninth inning was Ryne Sandberg. The young Cub had been making some noise that year after a productive, but not exciting, two years in Chicago. But today would be a turning point in his career.

Sandberg deposited a pitch from Sutter into the bleachers in left field to tie the game at nine. Wrigley got LOUD! But in the top of the 10th inning, the Cardinals scored twice to take a 11-9 lead.

With two outs, Bob Dernier walked, bringing up Sandberg with the tying run. Everyone was hoping - and only the most desperate would have bet money - that Sandberg could hit another homer.

The folks watching at home - a nationwide audience thanks to a rainout of NBC's other game that day - were watching the credits role. NBC announcers already named Willie McGee - who hit for the cycle and drove in six runs - as its player of the game.

Then it happened.

Sandberg blasted another home run near the same spot he'd hit the first one. If Wrigley was loud before, it was at another level now. The Cubs eventually won the game 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg - with two home runs and seven runs batted in - was named player of the game. Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog (perhaps in a fit of hyperbole) proclaimed Sandberg as the greatest player he ever saw.

But maybe Whitey was on to something. When Sandberg did hang up his cleats 14 season later, he was rewarded for his outstanding career with election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I've been to some great games in Wrigley, but this one tops them all.

George Carlin - R.I.P.

Whether you say any of the Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV (warning: they are listed on the link), George Carlin - who died this weekend at age 71 - had comedy that anyone could enjoy.

He could be as raunchy as anyone. And he could be as clean as anyone. Carlin was probably one of a few comedians who could perform before an outlaw biker group and a ladies church social and have both audiences laughing. One of my favorite Carlin routines is a skit he did comparing football and baseball.

If you've got kids, you may have seen Carlin in a very un-Carlin-esque role as Mr. Conductor on the "Thomas the Tank Engine" show.

The world is less funnier today - but don't worry: We still have politicians.

Hope you live here

Kiplinger.com has issued its list of the 10 best places to live, work and play.

There are various criteria that go into this selection. Click the link to learn more, but here's the top 10 (and maybe a comment or two from me).

1. Houston - Never been there, but it seems too hot.

2. Raleigh - Not been there either, but close to the ocean.

3. Omaha - Nope, too Nebraska-ey.

4. Boise - Uh, no. Sounds nice, though.

5. Colorado Springs - Ding! Ding! Ding! My sister lived there in the 70s and we went there on a family vacation. Pike's Peak. Beautiful parks. Loved it.

6. Austin - No, but maybe not as hot as Houston?

7. Fayetteville - Go Razorbacks! But, never been.

8. Sacramento - Near wine country and halfway between the Sierras and the Pacific. If I were moving to California, that's where I'd want to go.

9. Des Moines - Too wet (sorry, cheap shot).

10. Provo - Not been there either.

OK, so I'm no help. Check out the link - and if you're close to one of these cities, check them out (or feel free to post your views in the comments section on this entry).

Paper, not plastic, for gas stations

For everyone who grew up on Visa and MasterCard, there's a potential hitch in the plans when it comes to filling up at the pump.

The Associated Press is reporting that some gas stations are refusing to take credit cards. The reason, the story says, is the transaction fee that credit card companies charge on transactions. The fee is a fixed percentage of the sale, which means the higher the transaction, the higher the total fee. But the gas station owner in West Virginia says that rising fuel costs don't keep up with profit margins.

Disregarding the economic argument for the station owner, let's look at how this would impact consumers. If you've got a mini-van, a full tank of gas is about $100 right now. Heck, a mid-size car is going to be close to $50 for a fill-up.

With a generation that is reliant on credit cards, a switch to "cash only" means added trips to the bank - do people even visit banks in an era of direct deposit? - or to the ATM.

Let's play devil's advocate. Gas station owners nationwide say, "I give up" and will accept only cash. If Joe and Jane Consumer are paying $50 to $100 cash to fill up the car, that means they're walking around with $50 to $100 cash. Will thieves begin targeting gas stations to rob customers for quick cash, or the stations themselves that will be flush with cash?

And what if the practice expands to other businesses? Individual and businesses will be in a position where there will be large amounts of cash being carried around or sitting in cash registers (or store vaults).

There's not a lot of value for a thief to steal a wallet or purse if it's filled with credit cards. But a wad of cash is not traceable.

The one positive of a credit-less society is it place more responsibility on people to spend wisely and spend only what they have.

You are getting sleepy, sleepy, sleepy .......

With four kids, work and, other commitments, my wife and I find keeping a schedule difficult. One area that we've struggled with this summer is getting to bed. No, not that "getting to bed." I mean sleep.

The cause has been a mix of youth sports, aggressive yard work (mulch and brick pavers - more on that topic in an upcoming post), and general busyness. Another factor is Indiana's decision to get in step with the rest of the U.S. and follow Daylight Saving Time. We now spring forward and fall back. Before we stubbornly kept our clocks the same and let the rest of the civilized world figure out what time it is here.

As a result, there's still a fair amount of daylight now at 9:30 p.m. - which makes it tough to stick to the school year bedtime of 8:30 p.m. The kids are in bed at 10 p.m. at the earliest, which means my wife and I - after tending to straightening up the house and other mundane tasks - have little interest or energy in anything else besides getting to bed. As in sleep.

In between yawns and spoonfuls of cereal an the morning ritual of watching "Arthur" on PBS, my wife found an article discussing the healthy benefits of sleeping. The passage I found interesting - although not surprising in retrospect - is that Americans slept an average of 10 hours per night in 1880, the year Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. Today, we get 6.9 hours a night on weekdays and a whopping 7.5 hours a night on weekends.

My inner clock already tells me I need more sleep, but I need get it in sync with the outer clock that is Eastern Daylight Time and get to sleep at a decent hour - which may result in "getting to bed" more often. But I digress.