I’ve done it again. I just looked at the Chicago Tribune sports section and got worried needlessly.

A headline today (Oct. 3) read “Cubs’ Ross OK with Game 2 postponement.” I admit it, I haven’t followed the Cubs lately as much as I did during their World Series run, so I didn’t know straightaway that Game 2 had been postponed in their most recent series.  I just read the headline and thought what fits. “Oh, I’m glad he’s not hurt.”

I thought “I’m OK with that” and similar “person OK with thing” expressions were just a passing fad. If they are, I wish they would pass more quickly and go away.

Whatever happened to the more logical “Is that OK with you?” — “thing OK with person” — for seeking or describing approval?

Maybe it started in restaurants: “Yes, my salad is OK with bleu cheese on it,” or “Yes, I’m OK if we sit there.” But even the second one is more logical as “It’s OK,” not “I’m OK.” (Maybe “I’m OK if you stop the Heimlich Maneuver, already!”)

The postponement in the headline example could not have expressed whether it was OK or not. Let’s keep the expression going in the correct direction!  Even in the headline, “Game 2 postponement” fits just the same as the top deck (first line) of the headline as it did on the bottom, and using “Game 2 postponement OK with Cubs’ Ross” actually leaves room for the word “is.”

Grammar in headlines? No, that’s another battle altogether.

Margaret Serious has a page on Facebook.

There’s no off-season for being Serious about language! Subscribe today! Type your e-mail address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam-free, and you can opt out at any time.

Paying attention to the food we eat is important. Eating healthy food is the foundation for good health. However, we should also pay attention to how we eat. Eating your food properly helps with digestion and reduces the risk of overeating.

Most of us were taught as children not to talk with our mouths full of food. Proper eating goes beyond that rule. We need to consider how we chew our food. The digestive process starts with your chewing. When you chew your food properly the food is broken down into smaller pieces which are easier to digest. Chew your food slowly. Let your silverware rest between bites. Totally complete one bite before you start another one. There is a suggestion that you count to 32 with each bite. Not chewing your food properly can cause bloating, cramps, acid reflux, gas, and indigestion.

Do not rush the eating process. Research shows it takes 20 to 30 minutes for your stomach and digestive track to begin digesting and absorbing your food. When you eat your food fast it is harder to discern when you are full, so you eat more. Try to eat before you are hungry. If you wait until you are hungry you are likely to eat faster and eat more.

Make your meals an event. Focus on your food. Take away any distractions such as the television, cell phone or computer. If you are distracted you are more likely to eat more. Have you started eating a snack while watching TV and noticed that you ate more than you intended? The TV had your intention and you were not giving the food a lot of thought.

Think about your food before you eat it. Take a moment before you start diving in. Drink water before you start eating. Once you feel satisfied stop eating. I know as kids we were told we should clean our plates; however, if you feel full you can stop even if there is food left on your plate.

You should eat healthy foods and you should also eat those foods the right way. You may need to make changes to the way you have consumed your food in the past.

The common deadbolt which we see in many homes was an invention that reduced the number of burglaries in homes in the 60’s and 70’s. With the advent of electronic surveillance and security apparatus such as lock technologies etc., home burglaries have considerably reduced. However, on average more than a million homes are broken into every year in the United States of America and quite a few of them in Chicago too. When a home gets broken into it is an invasion of privacy and this should never happen. However, we can only take precautions so that the home doesn’t get broken into.

Do not advertise your expensive items:

Keeping a costly bicycle or a lawn mower in the yard could make a burglar mark your property as one to be broken into. Keep costly items in your garage. Do not leave cartons of things that you bought which are expensive outside, because burglars could be lurking and marking homes. Do not be a showboat and keep your curtains open so that people from the outside can see what is inside, in fact, you should walk around your property and check what expensive items are visible from the outside and make sure that they are not visible. This way a burglar will not know that you have expensive items in your home, if you are not careful and if you show off your items, it is just an advertisement for burglars to walk in and take what they want.

Create an illusion:

Many studies indicate that burglaries occur when people are not at home and this does not mean it occurs when people are on vacations, the most burglaries occur when the residents are at work and no one is at home. To prevent burglaries in such cases you can create the illusion that someone is at home by keeping lights on or playing some music or even keep the television on. You will pay a slightly higher energy bill but it is worth it.

Invest in a home safe:

Investing in an in-home safe is one of the best investments that you can make. Keeping your valuables in the safe is the best way to keep them secure. Burglars cannot easily take them and if you keep your safe in a place that is not easily found, such as an inconspicuous place your valuables will stay safe and secure.

Invest in an alarm system:

An alarm system for your home along with a motion detector for your yard will keep burglars away for good. In fact, homes with alarm systems and/or motion detectors were found to be more secure. Homes without these systems were burgled more compared to ones with these systems.

Never keep a spare key outside your house:

Many of us have the habit of keeping a spare key below the pots outside our homes. It is a very common practice because people do not want to be locked out of their homes. However, it is an invitation for burglars to come and burgle your home. Never keep spare keys outside, in fact, a better idea would be to keep a spare key in your chain or even better still ask your neighbor or friend to keep a spare key for such eventualities.

One month to go. Thirty-one days until election day. Do you think it’s been bad so far? Do you think it can’t get any worse? Well, buckle your seatbelts, kids, because you ain’t seen nothing yet? It’s going to get even crazier!!

Think about what we’ve seen so far….Zoom conventions, an acceptance speech from the White House Rose Garden, rallies without masks or social distancing during a pandemic, including one at Mount Rushmore, the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice less than forty days from election day, and the most horrendous debate any of us have ever seen.

It’s almost enough to make you forget about the tax returns and Brad Parscale’s guns…..almost.

I wrote the first three paragraphs for this piece on Thursday night. Since then, we’ve seen the president, the first lady and what seems like half the Republican party diagnosed with Covid-19. Donald is in the hospital. We have no idea how he really is doing. The lack of transparency from this administration about the health of our country’s leader shouldn’t shock us, but it does. That’s on us as much as them.

It took all of one day to make us forget about all of the events listed up top. ONE DAY!! That’s how strange this election cycle has been. That’s how strange 2020 has been.

That’s a lot for one country to deal with. Just listing all these things makes you feel like you need a nap. After all that, you’re thinking how can it get crazier? Two words….DONALD TRUMP!

When it comes to Don, the crazy never stops. Between the polls and his illness, his campaign is desperation mode. He knows he losing, and if he’s so out of touch with reality that he doesn’t actually believe that, the people in his campaign know it. When he gets desperate, there’s no telling what he’ll do. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but look for him do something so bizarre that we’ll think it’s the strangest thing ever…even for Donald Trump.

I know you all think you can’t handle much more of this. You think you’re reaching your breaking point. But, c’mon…hang in there. You can do it. It’s only for thirty days.  Do it for yourself. Do it for Joe and Kamala. Do it for America. Do it for Pooh!

Related Post: The Trump children visit on just a typical day at the White House

Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

Who needs a good laugh? I know I do. The last few months feel like the end of the world (as we know it) but predictions of gloom and doom will only get you so far. We are humans. Sometimes we have to let off steam.

What has made you giggle or guffaw through the years? What are you streaming that has put a smile on your face?

Here are five sitcoms from each of the seven decades of television. This being an election year (sorry, I forgot that this is supposed to be a cheerful post) why don’t you pick your favorite…or add your own. Send me an email ([email protected]) or add a comment. Let’s all figure out what we can laugh at.

1950’s

• Father Knows Best
• The Honeymooners
• I Love Lucy
• Our Miss Brooks
• December Bride

1960’s

• The Andy Griffith Show
• The Beverly Hillbillies
• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• Get Smart
• Gilligan’s Island

1970’s

• All in the Family
• The Bob Newhart Show
• The Mary Typer Moore Show
• The Jeffersons
• M*A*S*H

1980’s

• Cheers
• The Cosby Show
• Family Ties
• The Golden Girls
• Newhart

1990’s

• Frazier
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Friends
• The Nanny
• Seinfeld

2000’s

• Arrested Development
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• How I Met Your Mother
• The Office
• Scrubs

2010’s

• Modern Family
• Parks and Recreation
• Schitt’s Creek
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt
• Veep

Vote early and vote often. We don’t mind…

November 3–Vote just once.

Like what you read here? Add your name to our subscription list below. No spam, I promise!
___

———————————–

I rotate about 350 titles on my playlist, which generally includes about a dozen Rolling Stones songs.

While refreshing that list the day after Trump’s inauguration, I reflexively deleted the Stones’ 1975 release, Sympathy for the Devil.

It was odd, because I usually have trouble deleting anything from the Stones.  Last month I deleted nothing and just added some new stuff by Vampire Weekend, Black Pumas, Dermot Kennedy and Billie Eilish.

I currently have no sympathy for the devil.

I avoid funerals because I’m inadequate at mumbling kind words about people I never liked.

In 2002, Broomhilda and I went to Savanah, GA for the funeral of someone we both liked.  Charlie could be an SOB, but he was an honest SOB and he was always exceptionally kind to Broomhilda.

He was the kind of guy you meet only once in your life.

His ex-wife delivered a eulogy in front of  her current husband and their children, speaking of the larger-than-life guy that was the love of her life.

It was extraordinary.

Donald Trump is the kind of guy you hope you only encounter once.  I had nothing nice to say about him 30 years ago and I have nothing nice to say about him now.

Unlike a smoker who gets lung cancer, Trump’s ignorance did not just land him in the hospital, it landed HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS in hospitals and cost the lives of an estimated 100,000 Americans.

We don’t sympathize with drunk drivers who commit vehicular homicide, we prosecute them.

The Trumps deserve the same amount of sympathy they extended to the family of Senator John McCain.  Their lack of compassion was beyond remarkable, as Trump continued to attack McCain even after his death.

Lindsey Graham described Trump as a race baiting, xenophobic  religious bigot.  

Mitt Romney said that Trump is is a phony, a fraud, and that his promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.

Mitch McConnell said, it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t know a lot about the issues.

Trump, unlike every other president in history, has refused to commit to the peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election in November.  He has no regard for law, the Constitution or the American people. 

We have an election in just one short month.  Republicans are going for it in an all-out, no-holds-barred campaign of lies, false accusations, disinformation and voter suppression.

Joe Biden dropped attack ads while the Trump campaign continues to release theirs.

One of Trump’s new ads shows a dark skinned woman sitting on a bed, silently holding up cue cards emblazoned with lie after lie about the destruction Joe Biden has planned for America.

The last card says that she is afraid to speak those lies out loud.  Which she should be.

It’s a powerful message to those who don’t know any better.

The Proud Boys are standing back and standing by, but this is no time for Joe Biden to stand back.

Democracy hangs in the balance.  American lives hang in the balance.  The environment and the future of our planet hang in the balance.

Nice guys don’t get to appoint Supreme Court justices.  If anyone asks, just tell them that we no longer have sympathy for the devil.

Subscribe to the Chicago Board of Tirade
* You will never get SPAM
* Your email address will never be sold or given away
* You will only receive emails on days I post
* You can unsubscribe at any time
* Just type your email address in the box below and click the “Create Subscription” button

* Email me anytime: [email protected] OR [email protected]

Another violent weekend in Chicago on its way? Is  BLM protesting that?  Didn’t think so. Why don’t those Black Lives Matter? A nuance of Marxism?  

Watch Pat O’Brien discuss with Jeff Berkowitz how to reverse the deadly trends in Chicago and it’s suburbs.

The Public Affairs show featuring Republican State’s Attorney candidate Pat O’Brien interviewed by show host Berkowitz airs in Chicago this week-end: 

This morning at 9:02 am on  Cable Ch. 21:

Sunday morning at 8:32 am on Cable Ch. 19 

You can also watch the show 24/7 to find out if:

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx  is unwilling to target gangs and their drug and other illicit enterprises? If so, why?  

Foxx ‘s prosecutorial failures are fueling the 2020 dramatic increase in shootings and homicides in Chicago and Cook County’s suburbs?

The absence of an effective Cook County witness protection program is killing innocent witnesses and thus deterring community cooperation with prosecutions of dangerous criminals?