300th tri now official, New marriage philosophy, Movie Review

Well it is official that the results have been published and the Texas Tech Rec triathlon will go into my day timer as the 300th tri completed. While all of the things that I mentioned in the previous post did happen, I decided to go ahead and count it since it was really an official triathlon of swim, bike and run, and the official results were corrected and posted. The other screw ups were there but can happen in any race, plus the race director did publish an apology, of sorts, for the screw ups. The results showed that I finished 2nd in a 10 year spread age group, so that wasn't too bad and I will take it. Of course that is another rub since most races have 5 year age group spans. I do remember, however, when the top age group was 45 and over. One year I was 15 years past the top age group and finished 6th out of 21. What this really means is that the competition is somewhat lean, if an ole athlete can finish this high. But, I will take the medal and go away grinning, since I know that Rip's Truck stop cafe is next with two fried eggs over easy, hash browns, wheat toast, sausage, grape jelly, orange juice, and a small glass of milk. Wow, what a day!!!

The next subject is somewhat deeper than I really wanted for today, but it has been on my mind for the past few days and I wanted to share it with my vast reading audience. Since I have been involved in the sanctity of marriage for over 43 years(44 in October), with three completely different great women, I feel I have some real life experience to base my new marriage philosophy on. Plus the fact that the current, "till death do us part", just seems to work 50% of the time in the first marriage and 40% of the time in second marriages, and God forbid what the percent is beyond that. So, I think it is time for someone to step up and offer a new plan. Also, I am working on a new book called "Flags" that will also help to institute this new philosophy. On top of that there hasn't been anything done quite like this in the past and the current "how to stay married" books are sure not working. The goal and purpose of my new book is to draw from the marriage intendees on how to spot "bad" flags in a potential marriage relationship. By seeing these flags in the beginning it will give the two potential marriage partners something to think about. Now I also know that love and lust, and the love of lust will sometimes just over shadow any negative flag, I feel that if even 1 bad marriage is prevented it will be worthwhile. One person who has looked at my "Flags" checklist ask, "what are you trying to do, prevent marriage?" My reply is no, "I am trying to prevent divorce." Here is what I suggest to make this marriage thing a more workable institution and who knows, maybe even more enjoyable. First, I think the marriage license should be much harder to obtain. It has been said that if it was as hard to get into marriage as it is to get out of marriage, more people would think with their brains instead of their sexual organs. Next I would highly recommend that the marriage license would be issued on a renewable term. Just like your automobile license, yep you might even throw in an annual inspection to make it even more valid, i.e. weight gain, bad habits becoming worse, new habits becoming abusive, etc. I would recommend that the first term of the license be for two years, with the option to renew every two years up to ten. Now when it reaches ten years it really gets good. Between ten and twenty years there will be the one year option to end it all with a 30 day notice, no questions ask. After twenty years it now moves to a 30 day notice, no questions ask, etc. The other good news here is that there will be no divorce courts, no lawyers, no hassle of division of assets, simply because the law will be, "50/50" split of all assets or the contesting party goes to prison for 10 years. No matter when the assets were acquired or how, remembering all along that with the use of the "Flags" formula each party would know about the financial situation of the other, so no surprises here. After 30 years the 30 day notice goes to 10 days, with the same stipulations as above. After 30 years of marriage, God save the King, because after that length of time what I see in long term marriages consists of the following: they are still madly in love and enjoy each other, have grown together through the marriage(the ultimate reason, in my opinion, to get married) and will be mentioned extensively in "Flags", they have not done the above and hate each other, they put up with each other and stay together because that is what society expects them to do, they stay together for the kids(who are now adults and maybe in their second marriage already, so this is not a good excuse), a combination of all of the above. The actual percentage of "happy" marriages for this length of time is really hard to gauge, but there are some so it is not hopeless. Now when you the see the 50 year marriages they will be allowed to set their own rules, short of murder. If a couple stay together this long then they should be allowed to set their future destiny. There are many more long term marriages ending in divorce that ever before. The main reason for that is that with our more open society they are more prone to admit and accept the fact they should have done this a long time ago. In conclusion to this grand new plan, I realize there are a few quirks to work out, but I am committed and will reveal more in the new book, "Flags." Be on the look out for it.

Movie Review: "The Brave One", ****, Boy Jodie Foster is a great actress, but she plays such stressful roles I don't see how she stays sane. After she and her fiance are brutally attacked while on an innocent walk in the park(forgot to mention, a New York park), and he dies while she recovers(physically at least), she decides to deal a little misery herself. She becomes the vigilante of New York City killing bad guys at random, while finally having a chance to put away the really bad guys who beat her and killed her mr. right. Terrence Howard plays the police detective that becomes her friend and I have to leave it there, so you can go see the ending. It is a good one. Rated R for strong violence, language, some sexuality.

Off to ride the Hog,

greerman