SWITZERLAND FORUM

[cklaurence]

I've had that up all year, Em. It's been a really bad year for m!

[Emeritus]

I'll spare you a lot of platitudes, but you are bound to catch a break sooner or later. I feel sorry for Baglady, who hasn't had even one win to feel good about.

[cklaurence]

Ah, but don't forget, Em--Ms Bags has her Giants! She's a two-team woman...

[Emeritus]

Good point. Actually, I have a second team myself. When that (it is my rule to never say anything bad about anybody, not matter what the provocation, but I could make an exception in his case) Bud Adams took the Oilers out of Houston, I was left without a team. The geographically closest team was the Saints, so I made them my home team. The problem with that is that they were simply woeful at the time. But, hey, you suffer through. By the time that the Saints got good, there was a new, but awful, team in Houston. I pull for the home team, so I became a Texans fan. I am delighted with the success that the Saints have had, however, and they are still my NFC favorite.

[cklaurence]

I thought I remembered you being a big Dallas fan--and didn't we have a falling out over Tom Landry at one point? Or was that WorldWeary? I don't know why I always think of Houston as your second team.

[Emeritus]

I've long been a Tom Landry fan, but not a Cowboys fan. The people in Houston don't care for Dallas, which they consider a bastion of self-satisfied Republican Yuppies. It would be difficult to imagine two more different towns. I've never been interested enough to be a Cowboys hater, but I know a lot of Texans fans who are.

[Emeritus]

Great win for the Dolphins! They showed that they have something to build on. I would love to see them keep on winning.

[cklaurence]

Me too, Em. Despite that moron of a coach. Lord knows WTF he was thinking when he let the clock run at the half when we had two time outs and over a minute on the clock! It's enough to make me throw a tantrum... (Which I did!) No one noticed because they were too busy booing the coaches off the field, though. The players seem to be getting their confidence back, but Matt Moore was gawdawful today...

It'll be interesting to see how we do in the next two weeks against Buffalo and Dallas.

[Emeritus]

I'm a Texans fan, of course and the Saints are my NFC team. In a quirk of scheduling, they played each other twice this year and split the games. Both have the same record and the same lead in their divisions. It has been great! Unfortunately, that same scheduling has them both on their bye this week. I may have to take a week off from football.

[cklaurence]

Thank you for my big smile of the day, Em!

I'm under tremendous pressure to get my manuscript to the publisher and I'm only up to chapter 7! I'm getting an assistant to help me out, thank goodness. If I'm a bit scarce, you know why--but hell, I can't be any scarcer than anyone else around here, lol! I'll try to keep my end of our convos up, and hopefully, once my assistant starts, it'll be no time at all before I get it off to the publisher...

In case anyone is hoovering, "hey, hey, hey!" There--I've broken the ice. Now it's your turn to say hey back at me...

[Emeritus]

Damn, damn, damn, damn! I can't believe it! In spite of losing Andre Johnson on offense and Mario Williams on defense, the Texans finally developed into the team that we hoped that they would be. They are going into the bye on a four-game winning streak and in control. Now comes the news that Matt Schaub has a broken foot and will be out indefinitely. He was the key to everything that the Texans were doing. He gave us the quick leads (on Sunday he threw for a touchdown on the first play of the game) that allowed the Texans to run the ball and play defense. It looks like still another season of dashed hopes.

[cklaurence]

Aw Em--don't feel that way till you see how your back up handles things. You may just be surprised! Remember the Dolphins' perfect season? Bob Griese went out just about this time in the season and everyone was sure it was over! Earl Morrill stepped right in and they never skipped a beat. Perfect season!!! You gotta believe!!!!!

[Emeritus]

Life will go on, but there have been too many years of disappointments and no successes. I don't give up, but I'm not enjoying it.

[cklaurence]

My heart goes out to you, dear Em. As a dolphan, we KNOW disappointments!

My new computer is being delivered tonight. I'm excited. It's a Toshiba, and my Indian son researched it and bought it for me. The letters on this one are totally worn off, lol--that's how much wear and tear I put on a comp in four years!

[dredwak]

To NFL Fans:

We hope you are enjoying the NFL season. The playoff race is shaping up and promises to bring even more excitement as we head into the holiday season. My purpose in writing now is to update you on steps we are taking to help our older retired players – the heroes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s who deserve great credit for their role in building the NFL into what it is today.

These players did something for the game of football. Now it’s our turn to do something for them.

It’s easy to say we appreciate them. But our actions need to tell the same story. That’s why we are proud of the agreement we reached with the union this week on how to distribute the $620 million Legacy Fund set aside in our new collective bargaining agreement. It means we will begin paying higher benefits immediately to all retired players whose pensions vested before 1993.

This new Legacy Fund benefit has three important components:

Every player will receive a major pension increase. We have significantly raised the pension floor of minimum monthly payments.
Players whose pensions vested before 1975 – the players who played for the lowest salaries – are getting the biggest increase.
The Legacy Fund benefits will continue not only for the lifetime of the retired player, but also for the lifetime of his eligible beneficiary.

The formula for distributing the $620 million fund was designed after we discussed it with leaders of several retired player groups, including Mike Ditka, Carl Eller, Bruce Laird, Willie Lanier, George Martin and Ron Mix. The new benefit applies to more than 4,700 players who were vested in the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Player Pension Plan prior to 1993.

Here are two examples of how the Legacy Fund will significantly increase monthly pension payments to many retired players:

There is a 10-year veteran player who retired in the 1960s who has been receiving a $200 monthly pension. The Legacy Fund benefit will increase his monthly check to $1,840.
Another 10-year veteran who retired in the 1970s will see his monthly check increase from $165 to $1,810.

Nothing we do or say can ever fully express our appreciation for the dedicated players who built the NFL. But I believe that the Legacy Fund is an important step in the right direction. Paired with our efforts to set a higher standard for player health and safety, it represents the shared commitment and responsibility of the National Football League and its players to improve the lives of the men who played the game – yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Roger Goodell

[Emeritus]

Wow, I hope that they all got good jobs after they retired! I know that their playing careers were short, but those figure were pitiful!

[cklaurence]

Not much different than social security--the scourge of our existence. Keeping Americans in their places...

[Emeritus]

Are you as disturbed as I am about the growing disparity of wealth in this country? I'm not sure how the economy can survive it. When the economy is service oriented and only a small fraction of the population can afford the services, I don't see how it can work.

[cklaurence]

Yes I am, Em. The agenda seems to be to wipe out the middle class, and it surely looks like that is happening. Much more quickly than I thought possible, too! I worry so about my kids. Every day it seems it becomes more and more difficult for (what used to be) decent incomes ($50,000 and up, are below average. My daughter's teaching salary, which is right around fifty, as well as my son's salary, which is right around the same, only his job is a more demanding, higher up on the food chain--Director of Programming at a very large prestigious Temple, and then my son-in-law, who is a civil engineer making around 80,000.--all of who are struggling to make ends meet! It's getting worse, not better...

[Emeritus]

At least they have jobs, ck. My church is full of professionals with advanced degrees whose jobs have been eliminated by outsourcing or downsizing. The CEOs get bonuses when that happens and everybody else suffers.

[cklaurence]

Oh, I know that's true, Em. That's all part of the steady elimination of the middle class. The CEOs have these ridiculously bloated bonuses constantly thrown at them, while the mid-level workers are being eliminated in droves. It's horrendous! How about when all that money was given to the financial institutions to 'save' them, and they took huge bonuses for the top level employees and then everyone went off to outrageously expensive spas and rubbed it in our faces, while the whole country watched their real estate values fall off cliffs to oblivion and their jobs disappear as well. Nightmare city.

[Emeritus]

What I don't understand are the people who insist on tax cuts for the rich, who are the very people who have caused all of the economic distress. The proposition that tax cuts for corporations and the rich will produce jobs has been disproved repeatedly, but they still insist on it. Somebody has paid a lot of money to propagate that absurdity.

[cklaurence]

But of course, Em--we know who has kept this tale going...THE RICH! They are the ones who really run the government, hence make the rules. We, the people (remember? that was how it started out...) are fu*ked! Good and truly.

BTW, I'm typing on my new laptop. How do you like it? I love it. I totally forgot what it was like to have all the keys working, and not have the computer drop to blue screen constantly. What a pleasure!

[Emeritus]

I type on a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. It is a split keyboard with a hump in the middle and it slants backward, from the palm rest down to the top. You can't read the keys because of the slant away from you. It takes a little getting used to, but if you are a black belt touch typist it is killer! You can type really fast all day without tiring. Every time that I get a new computer I throw away the keyboard that comes with it and plug in one of these.

[cklaurence]

I never thought I'd be able to live without an ergonomic keyboard, but first I got that Apple Computer--you know, the one that has everything in the screen? I just started using that keyboard, and then I had to run a campaign and they told me to go out any buy myself a laptop. I always try to save my candidates money, so I bought an Acer for around three hundred dollars rather than an Apple laptop, which I was authorize to do.The candidate was horrible--wouldn't listen to anything I told him to do, so I told him if he didn't pay attention and listen up, I wasn't going to take responsibility for him getting creamed. He continued to be an arse and I left. I didn't ask for a pay-out on my contract, although I could have, so he didn't ask for the computer back. The Acer sucked from day one, so I was sorry I didn't get a better computer--preferably the Apple, although I like having at least one computer that isn't Apple in the house, and both my kids that live here have Apples (husband has a Lenovo, which I hate). Anyway, hopefully this Toshiba will hold up. The keyboard is a bit more compact than I'm used to, but the touch is very light so I can speed right along. My last known measured speed was taken on an a selectric typewriter (yep, a long, long time ago) at about 165 words a minute. I worked for an attorney (and dear friend) back then who to this day tells me he has dreams of what I must be like on a computer! With what those paralegals are making (I was labeled 'secretary,' but the work I did then would very definitely be labeled 'paralegal' today. We didn't have fancy titles back then, but we did they heavy duty work. Paul (my friend/boss) was one of the few who appreciated it and not only was very good to me and treated me more like an associate than like a secretary, but paid me like one as well. I loved litigation, and him. I stayed with him till the day I delivered my first baby and my thought was to drop the kid off and go back to work the next day. I hadn't counted on falling in love with that 9 and a half pound bundle like I did. Wow! All I wanted to do was hold him and love him and keep having more. Me, Ms Zero Population Group Spokesperson International, lol...

[Emeritus]

happy snoopy 2.JPG (4.54 KiB) Viewed 15825 times

HAPPY SATURDAY!

[cklaurence]

Good luck with your team tomorrow, Em. Hope you do well despite the QB situation. Buffalo comes to town tomorrow for us--we'll see what's going to be for my Fins...
Dred, Try, Ms B or anyone else who might be in the neighborhood, best of luck to you as well...

[Emeritus]

This is the bye week for the Texans, so I don't know what game I will watch. Since they aren't playing, I haven't checked the game schedule.

[Monec]

Last week edge of my seat all weekend waiting for the Pats and Jets to play, this week, Pats favored by 16 a lot less tense, although they could blow it

[Emeritus]

Hi monec! It is less exciting when your own team isn't playing, but the Texans need a bye week after losing their quarterback. I still don't know what games will be shown in my area this week. I hope that you enjoy the games.